


World Undone

by AliciasClarke (fyeahgila)



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV), The 100 (TV), The Walking Dead (TV), crossover - Fandom
Genre: Blood and Gore, Clexa freeform, Clexa will survive PROMISE, Dark Stuff, F/F, Fighting, People Will Die, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Zombie Apocalypse, but also fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-25 12:31:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6195247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fyeahgila/pseuds/AliciasClarke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been about ten weeks since the first infected were spotted. It's been about two weeks, since they had to leave their home behind. All that life is about now, is bare survival. Or is there still anything more than that out in this bitter place the world has turned into?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Long Road East

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> This is my first crossover story ever. Actually I planned to write a TWD or FTWD fanfic for months now, but since the 100 fucked up majorly last week, I just had to make it a crossover because I need more Clexa in my life.  
> The characters aren't mine, unfortunately, but the plot is. There are some basic infos and ideas I took from the shows though. I really hope you enjoy reading this, so far I planned like 3-4 chapters, but it's also totally up to you how far I'll go on with this. Have fun reading! :)
> 
> P.S. thanks a lot to my awesome American friend for beta-reading this!  
> (Any mistakes that might still be in there are on me because I didn't take all of her advice, but I hope you guys will be nice on me since I'm not a native speaker, lol)

Alicia was staring out of the window once more, while plain land and nothing more than bare sand were passing by for hours on end. Occasionally, there was a group of trees though, they were growing more frequently now, there seemed to be a forest ahead. 

It’s been like this for a long time now. They’d been driving east for some days, hundreds and hundreds of miles. Always on the move, without really having a set destination. They exchanged their cars for a camper - one of the larger models which rather looked like a mini-truck – they came across in a small town somewhere on the Arizona border. 

It was easier that way, not only did they have more space for all of their supplies, but it also offered at least a minimum of comfort without having to risk their lives by breaking into deserted houses all the time, if they ever desired to sleep anywhere else than a car seat.  
Going to the desert had always been their number one plan since all of this hell broke loose and they had to leave their home behind. A giant city like L.A., with millions of people around, wasn’t exactly the place to be when the dead were rising to eat the living. When no one seemed to be able to find a solution, any kind of cure for the infected, and people just kept turning, when the military left, when they couldn’t feel safe anymore in their Safe Zone, they finally decided to leave and hide out somewhere in the desert. 

Now, that would have worked out just fine, probably, if they had any clue for how long they were actually doing this. If they could just have settled in a deserted home somewhere to ride it all out for a week or two. But it totally didn’t look like this would be over anytime soon. In fact it didn’t look like it’d be over anytime at all. The longer they kept driving, the more obvious it became. Of course they’d tried it, just occupying someone else’s abandoned house. But the thing with most houses is, that they’re part of a larger community, a city, a town, a village at most, and that there were just too many of the undead around to stay there without being run down by them in the middle of the night, to be ripped to shreds in their sleep. After all they were only a group of six, two of them women and three of them still teenagers. 

So, the only reasonable option for them, at least for the moment, seemed to keep driving in their huge camper, that didn’t actually seem all that spacious anymore, when you had to live in it basically all day long, every day.  
If they weren’t literally fighting for their survival, it would almost be boring. At least that’s what Alicia felt like all the time they were just driving. There wasn’t anything for her to do, maybe bickering around with her brother, Nick, a bit, or getting to know Chris, her step brother, a little better. Before now, they hadn’t done much family bonding. There weren’t really any family trips where they all came together, the Clark and the Manawa family, trying to get to know and understand each other. Most of the time, Chris just didn’t want to be around Travis and his “new family”, and stayed with his mother instead. It basically took the Zombie Apocalypse to unite them. And what better way was there to get closer to your steps than living in a camper together while trying to survive on a day to day basis? At least this sounded more exciting than a trip to the beach or the zoo. 

Now Alicia would give everything, though, to get back a normal life, or at least what had been her normality. Where her and her mom’s biggest fear was worrying about Nick never showing up again because he’d OD’d. Where her biggest regret was that she’d probably eventually have to break up with her boyfriend, Matt, because High School romances almost never survived being apart for college. And now? Matt was one of the undead. She hoped that maybe someone had released him from this, though, and gave him his final peace. If Nick wouldn’t come back now, it was likely that he’d turned as well. This was their life now. Always on the run, living like nomads, scavenging food wherever they could get it, always on guard, bargaining for the worst possible outcome. 

So far, the worst thing that happened to them in those 16 days they’d been on the road, was that they came across two rough looking middle-aged dudes on heavy motorcycles who held Travis at gunpoint and forced him to give them some of their gasoline. Travis was a good guy, a great guy even, and if she was being honest, Alicia had to admit that she was actually glad for her mom that she’d found a man like Travis. But the thing about good guys was, that they’re not made for a harsh and unforgiving world like the one they had to adapt living in now. Naturally, he stopped the camper and jumped out to see if he could help, when they’d come across those two men and their motorcycles. Those rockers had been the first other people they’d actually seen in days, so why not have a chat with them? But it didn’t turn out quite like they’d hoped, because the bigger, bald, one of them had grabbed Travis, pulling a gun and holding it to his temple. All the rest of them could do, was to stay inside their vehicle, sit there and watch in utter shock due to what was happening outside. The other man, holding a crossbow, was threatening them, saying Travis would die if any of them did as much as move a finger. Then they made him bottle a couple liters of gasoline, right out of the camper’s tank, before the big guy shoved Travis against the hood, as hard as he could, before they jumped their bikes and sped away in the other direction.

This had happened five days ago. Afterwards they’d had to drastically reduce their speed in order to save gas, because they didn’t have a clue when the next town would show up, where the next road full of abandoned cars was, that they could rip off for some more fuel. They only stuck to small roads now since they figured out that the freeways, at least near the big cities, were all cramped with cars that had just been left there when their owners were trying to escape. Actually they were also avoiding any major cities due to the obvious reasons, so sticking to small roads seemed to be their thing.  
Luckily they’d come across a lonely gas-station in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between Arizona and New Mexico, where some cars had been left vacated, even though they were filled up. Obviously the gas didn’t come for free, not even after the world had ended, especially not then. First the three adults had to fight off a small bunch of the infected, while Alicia, Nick and Chris had been advised to stay back…

“Tank’s almost empty again”, her mom said, ripping Alicia out of her thoughts. It was Maddie’s turn to drive for the moment.

“Already?”, Travis wanted to know from the passenger seat. “I’m sure we still have at least one canister full that I can just fill right in.”

“Does it look safe to stop here?” Chris asked a little concerned, looking up from the book he was reading. Next to him, Nick was lying outstretched on the bench, taking a nap. 

“Haven’t seen more than one of our undead friends in about ten miles”, Alicia meant, already eager to get out of the camper for a while. 

She couldn’t stand just sitting around anymore. If she at least had some music she could listen to… But her cell phone had died down right after the first day without any power, obviously. Then her I-pod had saved her, but by now its battery had been used up as well. Actually she wondered how she’d survived the last week without listening to her favorite songs, because that was basically all she’d done before civilization broke down. Then again, the term “surviving” had been reduced to its very basic meaning again. It was just getting through the day somehow. Each day you woke up and weren’t dead seemed to be a good one. 

“I’ll test the waters first before anyone else is coming outside”, Travis warned them needlessly, gripping his hunting knife. 

“Take care!” her mom called after him, while Liza and Chris where peering out of the side windows to see where he went. 

After what seemed like hours, but only could have been about a minute or two, Travis showed up back at the passenger side of the camper.

“It’s all clear as far as I could see”, he let them know. 

A relieved smile spread on Chris’ face and Alicia mirrored it, because finally she could get some fresh air! She jumped out of the camper, letting her view gaze around, taking in their surroundings. Actually there wasn’t that much to see, nothing she hadn’t stared at for the last couple hours anyway. All around them were small groups of trees, not even close to getting the honor of being called a forest yet. Apart from that, rocks and sand. On a clear day and without the trees, you could probably see for miles and miles to go. Today wasn’t one of those clear days, though. It actually was only a couple hours away from dusk and the sky was grey. 

Alicia walked around the camper – it was almost longer than the pool they’d had back at their home in El-Sereno – just to see more trees and rocks. She supposed this was as good a look as any, as long as there weren’t any undead around. 

“Do you sometimes wonder why we didn’t come across more other people yet? Living people, I mean”, Chris asked her suddenly and she turned to her right to look at him. 

“Not really”, she gave back, considering her words. “You know…we are currently taking one direction of thousands possible…no one can say how many people even made it ‘til now, how many…didn’t. I suppose those who’re surviving, they…spread out all around the country, looking for a place to go. Maybe there are some camps left somewhere, some Safe Zones? Isn’t that what we’re doing, looking for a place left to go?”

“It doesn’t feel like it most of the time, though. It’s like aimlessly driving around, looking for gas, looking for food, looking for everything but a safe place…” Chris returned, leaning against the rear of the camper. 

Just as she wanted to answer him, a scream cut through the tranquility that spread all around them.

“Mom?!” Chris immediately called out in fear, running into the direction Liza’s cry had come from.


	2. Of Good Guys and Bad Ones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> thank you all so much for reading, liking, following, commenting! I think I've never got this kind of response for a single first chapter of any story I ever published so far, it's incredible, I'm stunned. You're amazing, keep it up :)  
> I got the next two chapters already planned out in my mind...after that, what happens from then, we'll see ;)  
> Now I hope that you like this chapter as much as the first, enjoy reading!

“Chris, stay back!”, Travis shouted at his son, while also making his way over to the group of trees where Liza’s scream had come from. From where they were at right now, they couldn’t see what was going on yet. Maybe it was better like that…

“But dad – “, he started to argue, just to get immediately disrupted.

“I said stay back!” Travis repeated as Alicia arrived at their side. “You too!” he told her in a stern voice, holding out a hand as if to underline his statement. 

“It’s gonna be alright”, Alicia tried to calm down Chris, and also herself, without really believing it, though. 

She just hoped that Liza would be okay somehow. They didn’t even know what actually had just happened, so they shouldn’t assume the worst right away. Meanwhile Travis ran to find his ex-wife, though, knife readily in his hand as a defense against whatever might lurk out there. And Alicia realized then, that in this world, it might be foolish not to suspect the worst. What did they say? When you see something that looks like a bite, it is a bite. 

Obviously Chris didn’t listen and followed after his father, Alicia right on his heels, while she heard her own mom shouting from behind to stay where she was. But she was just too scared and curious at the same time, she just had to make sure that Liza was, in fact, alright. 

When they were close enough to see Travis and Liza, it wasn’t one of the undead that was lying there on the ground, bleeding. They were both kneeling next to a living man, completely dressed in black, who seemed to be pretty badly beaten up. Travis pressed a jacket to his shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding and Liza held up his head, trying to keep him from passing out, while talking to him in a low, soothing voice. 

“Mom! Dad! What happened?!” Chris wanted to know, just standing there and staring in shock as his parents tried to stop the foreign guy from bleeding out.

“Was he attacked by one of the infected?” Alicia asked at once, taking a step back involuntarily as if the stranger had just made a jump at her, although he was lying there, barely even conscious anymore. 

“No, it doesn’t seem like it. I just found him here! He was just lying there!” Liza explained, it was hard not to hear the hysterical tone in her voice and Alicia did understand only too well why she had to scream before. Nothing was like it used to be anymore, but it didn’t happen every day, that you just stumbled upon a beaten up guy as soon as you left your camper to take a walk around the block. 

“What happened to him?” Alicia wanted to know then. “Can you help him?” 

She knew that Liza had worked as a nurse before, so surely she must have an idea of how to help that guy. At least she was sure, that now that they found him, they couldn’t just up and go again, leaving him behind. It wasn’t exactly that someone could still sue them for non-assistance of a person in danger, but just leaving him? That wasn’t who they were, right? 

“He said something about bad guys coming at him”, Travis explained, it was all he had gotten out of the man so far. 

“You…gotta get out”, the man managed to say now, his voice sounding raspy and ragged. “Get out of here...they might return.”

“We’re taking you with us”, Travis said, naturally, ready to bring the man to his feet somehow. 

“Travis!” Alicia heard her mom’s voice interjecting and she turned around to where Maddie had just arrived. “We can’t just go and pick up strangers from the roadside, he might be infected!”

“He is injured, Maddie! We can’t just leave him out here, he is still alive!” Travis gave back almost disgusted, looking at her quite shocked. 

“Mom, we have to help!” Alicia also chipped in as Travis spoke out what she’d already been thinking of before. 

Just leaving the guy out here for the undead to come and get him, that wasn’t who they were, who they could, should be. They had to help. She couldn’t actually believe that her mom had just said that. They were in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse, alright. But just because the dead had turned themselves against the living, and some scamps decided to use the anarchy that had evolved, to become less than humane by doing bad things to other survivors, it didn’t mean there wasn’t anything or anyone good left in this world. If they didn’t help this man, someone who was clearly in need and would probably die without them, they’d be no better than those people who’d done this to him in the first place. 

“Fine…okay…but if he turns, he’s your responsibility!” she returned to Travis, realization of how she just had acted in her eyes. Then she stepped closer to help get the man up from the ground and over to the camper. 

“You’re gonna be okay”, Liza assured the man. “I was a nurse…before that”, she gestured vaguely, indicating that she meant the world before this infection made monsters out of people. 

Their small rescue party had just reached the street again, as they spotted one of the infected staggering into their direction since they apparently had been loud enough to draw its attention. It made those rattling, grunting sounds that they all made, inching along and baring its teeth like a wild animal. 

“Let me get it”, Maddie meant and Travis handed her his knife wordlessly. 

It probably wasn’t quite the right expression to describe it, but Alicia found it admirable, the way her mom just dealt with those things. She hadn’t killed a single one yet herself, but her mother seemed to have no mercy, no remorse. All she seemed to think about, was keeping her family safe and it was a really brave thing to do. There had been times when Alicia was always just annoyed by her mom, but now she admired her courage. Being honest, she knew that she was lucky that she didn’t have to deal with killing one of the undead yet herself. It was almost a privilege, not getting her hands dirty. She knew that she’d have to do it too, sooner or later. This world wasn’t forgiving, it didn’t know pity. So you also shouldn’t show it when it comes to dealing with the infected. That’s also the reason why Alicia preferred to think of them as monsters, as things. They needed to be de-humanized, because they weren’t living, breathing beings anymore just dead, rotten flesh. It was your life at stake when you were coming face-to-face with them and you had to be cruel, you had to be brave. Because that’s what it takes to survive. 

She didn’t watch her mom getting rid of the undead thing, rather she ran ahead to tell her brother about what had happened.

“Nick, get up!” she commanded her brother and shoved at his arm. The bench he was lying on was the impromptu bed closest to the door and they’d need it for the injured stranger. 

“What’s going on?” he asked sleepily, running a hand over his face while sitting up. 

“We found an injured guy, get up, we need the space!” she emphasized, just as Travis and their mom tried to tow the stranger into their camper somehow without hurting him even more.

Finally they laid him down where Nick had been only seconds before, by now he seemed to have passed out. Immediately Liza continued putting pressure onto the wound on his shoulder as good as she could.

“What the heck happened, was he bitten?” Nick inquired, looking dazed. If she didn’t know better, Alicia would actually assume he’d done drugs again, but the circumstances had forced him to get clean over the last few weeks. It wasn’t like he could just call his buddies anymore, asking for his next shot. He was still just drowsy from sleeping, that’s all. 

“I need bandages or towels, or anything”, Liza ordered them, while Maddie put the man’s head onto a pillow. His face looked really beaten up and Alicia wondered why anyone had done this to him. Also she hoped that whoever it was, that those people weren’t still out there waiting to get to them as well. 

“We should drive on”, Chris suggested. “He said they might still be there.” Apparently he shared Alicia’s fear. 

“I didn’t see anyone, I swear”, Travis said, sounding like he was blaming himself for what had happened. “Nick, are you ready to drive?” 

“Sure, just gimme a second…”, her brother said, taking one of the water bottles they looted from one of the houses they’d broken into a couple days back, and gulped some down. Then he started the engine and off they went again, always down this empty road. 

“Could anyone help me looking for a first aid kit?” Alicia called from the back of the camper, while she was pulling open drawers and looking into closets. Why did this damn caravan have to be so giant? Some blankets fell down from one of the tops shelves, another closet contained their canned food. It couldn’t be that they didn’t have a first aid kit, could it? 

“Take these”, Maddie handed some towels to Liza who had cut the man’s t-shirt open with a knife. It just revealed more bruises that already turned blue and purple, all over the man’s abdomen and ribcage, and a gunshot wound on his left shoulder. Also his face looked pretty rough, his left eye was swollen, his nose probably broken. 

“Is there an exit wound?” Travis inquired, taking a fresh bottle of water, spilling some onto the area where it had entered. Apparently this hurt a lot, because the stranger suddenly jerked up and cried out in pain. 

“Hey…hey, you’re gonna be alright, okay?” Travis tried to calm him down, putting a hand on the guy’s uninjured shoulder and pushed him back down cautiously. “What’s your name?” he asked then to distract him. 

“Kane…Marcus Kane”, he breathed out, his voice cracking. 

“Okay, Marcus…we’ll have to take a look and check if there’s an exit wound, alright?” Liza said touching his shoulder as gently as possible. He still winced in pain. 

“Doesn’t seem so”, she gave back, after she checked. 

“So…what are we doing now?” her mom asked, just as Alicia came back with the first aid kit. She’d found it under the sink in the bathroom that honestly didn’t deserve to be called like that. 

There wasn’t really much left, except for some bandages and patches that would have been enough if you cut your finger while cooking. But certainly this wasn’t enough to perform some kind of surgery to get this bullet out of him. 

“We need to get to the next hospital, pharmacy, whatever”, Liza finally said. “I cannot help him like that.”

“Here, take these”, Maddie gave Marcus some painkillers and water to gulp them down. That’s about all they could do for now. 

“How far is the next settlement, did you see any road signs, Nick?” Travis asked.

“Earlier there was this sign saying we’re about 12 miles out of the next town”, Alicia answered on behalf of her brother. She felt pretty useless, as apparently did everyone else. Only Liza tried to stop the bleeding as good as she could with the towels and the bandages they’d brought her. 

“Do you have any other wounds we missed so far?” Maddie wanted to know, just to make sure. They couldn’t risk the chance that he was infected after all. 

“I wasn’t…bitten”, Kane gave back, apparently knowing exactly what she was asking. 

“That’s good…that’s good, buddy. You’ll be fine, okay?” Travis said, giving a warning look into Maddie’s direction not to upset the man any further, he got it bad enough already. “Can you tell us what happened?”

“I was…on a run…looking for gas. Came across…those guys. Rough looking fellas…three of them…Took my gas…took my weapons. Beat me up…I ran…as good…as good as I could…they shot at me too…I ran…then…I passed out”, he told them. “Next thing I remember…you guys.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry, I’m Travis by the way. This is Liza, my ex-wife…my girlfriend, Maddie. Her kids Alicia, and Nick who’s just driving. And this is my son, Chris”, Travis introduced them as if he’d momentarily forgotten his manners. 

Alicia had to suppress a grin because the whole situation seemed so absurd. They possibly just saved a man’s life in the middle of the apocalypse and here they were, exchanging their names as casually as they’d just met on the beach. But Travis was one of the good guys, after all. 

“You guys”, Nick said from the driver’s seat.

“What’s up?” Maddie wanted to know.

“There’s a sign, we’re about four miles away from town. What do we do?”

“Stop the camper”, Travis said and Nick cut the engine as soon as he’d found a place to park aside of the road behind some of the trees. They never just stopped right in the middle of the street when they settled for the night. 

“It’s getting dark outside”, Nick stated and hinted on what they all were thinking. 

They couldn’t drive into town and leave the camper after sunset. It was impossible to just go into the next best pharmacy, or hospital in a foreign town after night had set. Not under these circumstances. It was simply too dangerous. Towns were dangerous places during the day already. There were too many of the undead around. Ín addition there could as well be a bunch of other bad guys, just waiting for some people they could rip off. Walking into a place they’d never been to before was risky when they could see where they were stepping onto. But now? It was a suicide mission they were neither prepared, nor equipped for. 

“Marcus, listen…” Travis started, but the injured already knew.

“It’s okay, I know…you can’t risk your lives for me…and I don’t expect you to…I understand, you can’t go get the utensils now. I get it…you already did more than you had to by…by taking me along with you. And of that I’m thankful already.” 

“You gotta hang in there until tomorrow, okay? Just…hang in there”, Liza said, pressing Kane’s arm lightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to everyone waiting for Clarke (or Elyza if you like) showing up: be patient, she'll have an appearance in chap 3 :D


	3. New Rules for A New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are the best inspiration! Thank you all so much, literally every single kudo makes me smile and it's just so awesome :) this chapter is a little longer and I really hope you enjoy it!

Nights always dragged along painfully slow these days. Nobody had gotten a full night’s sleep in weeks, not since they left L.A. behind. Two of them together used to take turns in watching their camp side from the roof of the camper, making sure they didn’t get overrun by the monsters or a group of bad guys in the middle of the night. As a matter of fact, they had a spy glass with night vision, because Chris was a huge nerd. At first, Alicia had made fun of him for taking it along, but by now she was glad he did, actually it proved to be pretty useful. Or at least reassuring. 

One time, as they camped out far too close by a village, a bulk of the infected had made their way towards them, but Nick had spotted them early on thanks to the night vision glasses. It was a small enough herd, though, to just stay put and ride it out. So they went inside, sealed themselves off as well as they could and held out in utter silence, waiting for the undead to finally pass by. That night, Alicia thought she’d never heard a more horrifying sound in all her life, than that of the monsters crawling around right outside. They were bumping and clutching against the outer walls of the camper, which basically was the sole thing separating them from the particularly gruesome death of being turned into ground meat. 

This current night, however, probably was even worse. Nick and Travis were outside on top of the camper, keeping watch, while her mom and Liza were looking after Kane, making sure he didn’t die. Chris and Alicia had first gotten the honor of trying to catch some sleep, but neither of them could. There were three bunks and a double bed in the camper. Currently Alicia occupied one of the lower bunks and Chris the one above her. She could hear him toss and turn up there, so after a while she just scrambled out under her blanket and climbed up to the top bunk. 

“What are you doing?” Chris wanted to know, a little bewildered, staring at her through the semi-darkness. 

“Slide over”, she said, matter-of-factly and he simply did. “I can’t sleep either”, she admitted then, lying down next to him. 

“What are you thinking about?” he wanted to know, starring at the ceiling of the camper. 

“I just…I don’t understand why they did this to him”, Alicia returned after a moment.

“Hmm?” Chris only made, prompting her to clarify. 

“Marcus…why would people just…just try to kill others? I mean, there are more than enough evil things out there for which they should rather spare their ammo…I just really don’t get it”, she explained.

“Probably this is survival of the fittest, or something. There’s complete anarchy out there, any rules of civilization have been wiped out basically the day the great power blackout happened”, Chris offered as an explanation. 

“You know, once I watched that documentary on National Geographic and they said in case of a blackout that took longer than just one or two days…people would start vandalizing, shop-lifting in a matter of not even a week. And in about two weeks, full-blown anarchy breaks out. We’ve had all of that, only just faster, because the spreading infection was an additional factor of causing trouble and insecurity”, he went on and Alicia waited for him to make his point. 

“So, now…in a world without any rules…where everyone is trying to just survive, surviving has become the primeval fight for life and death again. Survival of the fittest. Either you kill or you’re killed. And sadly this doesn’t only apply to fighting the undead anymore”, he concluded.

“You’re such a nerd”, Alicia mocked him, because she didn’t want to admit that he was right and this actually frightened her more than she was willing to acknowledge. She didn’t want to live in a world, where the ones who managed to keep surviving the monsters, ended up killing each other over food or gas. Why couldn’t they just all be reasonable again? Find new rules for this new world? Why couldn’t they just all work together against one common enemy: the infection? 

“Do you think that someone out there’s working on a cure?” she asked before Chris could be huffy about her calling him a nerd once more. 

“I certainly hope so…probably they got some people researching at CDC”, he mused. 

“Or maybe the military…at least I like to think that’s the reason why they just up and left us. Because they had something more important to do than guarding Safe Zones…” Alicia added, suddenly realizing how tired she actually was. 

“You think Kane’s making it?” Chris muttered, his voice drowsy by now. 

“He better…we didn’t save him, just for him do die on us like that, this would be so rude!” she gave back, smiling a little, because her statement had made Chris grin. 

“Alicia?” he meant after a moment, shifting his position to look at her. 

“What’s up?” she gave back. 

“Thanks.”

“What for?” Alicia wanted to know. 

“Just for…being here”, Chris admitted and it made her smile lightly. 

She certainly hadn’t asked for a step brother. Didn’t even like him at all in the beginning. They’d basically glared at each other in silence each time their parents forced them to spend some time together. But he was one of the good kids that was something she always knew. Now, that it wasn’t their parents forcing them to spend time together, but the literal end of the world, they actually got by really great, considering that they couldn’t stand each other a couple weeks prior. By now, having two brothers instead of just one, didn’t sound all that bad to her anymore. 

“Goodnight, Chris”, she said then. 

“Goodnight, Alicia.” 

 

It felt like she only slept for an hour when her mom came to wake them and told them that it was their turn now to keep watch. When taking a look at the clock hanging on the bathroom door, she shuddered. It was only around 3:50am. One of her least favorite times to rise and go outside, obviously. But someone had to do the zombie-watch if they didn’t wish to end up just like these monsters. 

“How’s Marcus?” Alicia asked while she went to the front of the camper where the kitchen was. She gulped down some water and took two cookies as a snack. 

“Stable, I guess…he’s sleeping, I hope that’s a good sign”, her mom returned, as she hinged down the small ladder that led to the roof hatch.  
This probably was the single best thing about the camper. You didn’t have to go outside first and round the whole thing to reach the back ladder if you wanted to climb up on the roof. No, the thing being a high-end edition, obviously came with a build in ladder that allowed you to climb on the roof from the inside. Perfect for zombie-watch. 

“Is it time to switch shifts?” Nick stuck his head through the hatch. 

“Yeah, sadly…” Alicia sighed in return. 

“How’s everything out there, Trav?” her mom asked Travis as he climbed down. 

“All quiet. We’ve spotted one or two, shuffling along, but they didn’t even seem to notice us”, he reported and hugged Maddie then. “You look tired. Sleep for a while, I’m looking after Marcus.”

“Be careful, you guys”, he added, turning to Chris and Alicia, handing them his knife and a shotgun. 

About two hours later, the two of them were watching a fiery red sun rise in the east, slowly illuminating everything that lie ahead. They’d seen a single undead crossing the road a few hundred meters behind. It all was quiet, indeed. Probably a bit too quiet. But these days, everything was eerie. Whether it were the unusually empty roads, the ghost towns, the deserted cars on the freeways. 

The roof hatch was opened from the inside and Liza peered out at them. 

“Morning you two. It’s time to set out”, she informed them. So they scrambled down the ladder and had some juice and more cookies for breakfast together with Nick, while Maddie started the engine. 

“How’s he doing?” Chris wanted to know, nodding in the direction where Marcus was resting. 

“He got a fever…we need to get this bullet out of him before he gets an infection”, his mother answered truthfully. 

“What’s the plan?” Nick asked.

“You, Travis, and I will break into the next pharmacy, or hospital and try to get everything Liza needs”, Maddie explained. “Meanwhile, Liza is staying with him, in case he gets worse…”

“What about me?” Alicia interjected. “I want to come as well!” She didn’t want to be left behind once more, doing nothing, while everyone else was contributing. It was the worst feeling possible, just being useless. 

“Leisha…” her mom sighed and she already knew what her next words would be. “You know it’s too dangerous!”

“I don’t care! You know I’ll have to kill one eventually, right? You can’t feather-bed me all the time! I need to be able to protect myself, mom!” she started arguing. “I don’t even have my own weapon! You all got a knife, a shotgun, or a pistol with you all the time…even Chris has those damn bow and arrows!”

“Let her come along, mom”, Nick meant and Alicia grinned at him. “She’s right and you know it.”

“You’ll stay with me, or Travis, at all times”, her mom warned and Alicia couldn’t stop herself from high-fiving her brother, for what she earned an incredulous look on Maddie’s part. 

“Can I come, too?” Chris asked his mother then.

“No, I need you here to guard the van, while I’m taking care of Marcus”, Liza gave back and it was a valid point she made, nevertheless Alicia could see Chris’ face fall. But he didn’t disagree, because he knew that his mom needed him with her at the camper. 

“I think we’re there”, Maddie said after a while and cut the engine right at the spot. “Look ahead…there’s a mall, the signs say they got a pharmacy!”

“Jackpot”, Nick meant. “We can also look for more food and water. Maybe weapons even.” 

“The priority is medicine, something sharp to cut the bullet out, more bandages”, Travis stated. He’d just appeared from the sleeping area and still looked a little disheveled. 

After they’d all arranged their weapons – Alicia, much to her dislike, didn’t get any, because she’d stay with Travis, at least that was the plan – they checked with Liza one last time to make sure they’d get the right medicine. Then they finally stepped outside and took in their surroundings. 

The mall was situated in an industrial area a little outside of the living areas of this town. That might be an advantage, because for now, they didn’t see more than a hand full of the undead. They could handle that. There were abandoned cars all around, some of them packed with belongings. Alicia wondered what became of their owners.  
They didn’t have to kill a single undead until they reached the entrance to the mall. Of course the glass door was shattered, had been broken into. It was foolish to expect that they’d find everything they needed. All the shops they’d come across so far had been lifted. Some of them only still contained rotten fruits and vegetables, and food that couldn’t be stocked. 

“You and Nick go left, Alicia and I take the right wing, alright?” Travis whispered to Maddie as they carefully made their way inside. 

“Alright…Take care of Leisha, okay?”

Travis only nodded sternly as he already looked out for what they were searching for. Alicia stayed close at his side as they slowly made their way past all the different shops. There were so many clothes, just lying scattered on the floor. For a moment, Alicia wondered if she should take some along. She could just get all the clothes she ever wanted to buy, all for free now. That $300 jeans. All the expensive handbags, those designer heels. But it didn’t matter to her anymore. It couldn’t have mattered less. She wouldn’t care at all now, if she had to walk around in training pants all day long for a week. Clothes didn’t have to be chic anymore, they only needed to serve one purpose: be practical. It was like nothing else mattered anymore, just staying alive. And you didn’t do that in designer high heels, you needed shoes you could run away in. 

“Over there!” Travis pointed out the pharmacy quietly, but before any of them could make a further step towards it, one of the monsters stumbled out of a hairdresser’s shop right next to them. 

Alicia almost screamed because it took her by surprise, but she could bite her lip in time. Travis easily plunged his knife into its skull, without batting an eye, some blood splattered onto his hand, but he didn’t even seem to notice. Then it broke down and remained on the floor, really dead now. As Alicia turned around again, she realized that three more of them had suddenly showed up out of thin air. They were blocking their way over to the pharmacy. 

“What do we do?” she whispered, not able to keep the fear out of her voice.

“I need you to run back, get Maddie and Nick. I can handle these…but if there are more…we need them here”, Travis ordered her. 

“But mom said –“, Alicia started giving back.

“We don’t have time for that. Just run, okay? You’re gonna be fine, I promise”, Travis said.

Alicia wanted to point out, that she didn’t even have a weapon. That she didn’t know where exactly her mom and brother went, that this was crazy, but then she noticed two more monsters coming out of the H&M next to the pharmacy. Travis needed some support here, and she clearly couldn’t do anything but get help. So she turned around and started running. 

Things looked good on the way back, everything seemed to be clear. Then she even came upon a baseball supply shop. They had some wooden bats standing right there outside on display. Most of them had been taken already, but two or three were left, so Alicia just grabbed one as she sped past without thinking twice of it. It wasn’t a gun, but it probably was the best she could get. Also it didn’t make any noise, so she wouldn’t attract more of those things by using it to defend herself. 

So far, she couldn’t see anyone at all, neither her mom or brother, nor one of the infected. Then she came at a sudden halt when there was some kind of a crossroad. In its middle was a fountain that long ago had stopped sprinkling water.  
Why did this mall have to be so huge? It didn’t even look that big from the outside! For a second she contemplated just to call for them, but that would have been the single most stupid thing she ever did. And probably the last thing she’d ever do before a horde of monsters mangled her. 

At a venture, she just turned left and started running along the aisle ahead. But soon she decided, that this couldn’t be the right direction, because she still didn’t see any sign of Nick or her mom. Just as she wanted to return to where she’d came from, she heard it. That growl they all made. And it was definitely much too close for her liking. She looked to her left and only mere feet away, there it was. The first monster she would have to kill. 

It looked morbid, one of its arms was tangling lose at its side, not in its right place anymore. Its growl was making her shudder and she took a step back involuntarily. She had to be strong now. Alicia gripped her bat a little tighter, ready to smash it down on its big ugly head. She knew she'd die if she didn't do it. What was holding her back? Just smash it, a voice in the back of her head was screaming. 

As she finally swung the bat, something hit the monster, before she even got close enough to touch it. Then it fell to the ground with a thud and remained there, motionless. Surprised, Alicia dropped the bat and just stared down at the thing. There was a knife sticking in its temple. Confused she looked around, but before she could see whoever had thrown the weapon, someone gripped her from behind and held another blade to her throat, before she could even comprehend what just had happened. 

"So...what the fuck do ya think you’re doing here?" a female voice demanded to know in a southern American accent and Alicia almost gasped in bafflement. She’d honestly expected a guy attacking her like that, but a woman? 

Before she found the breath or courage to reply, though, the person behind her stepped around, knife still dangerously close to her throat. It was a blonde girl, maybe one or two years her senior, with long, dirty hair. She had a bad looking cut over her right eye, but it didn't even seem to bother her. And despite all that, she still looked incredibly beautiful, but also incredibly dangerous at the same time, with those piercing blue eyes. Her jeans were ripped, another knife strapped to her thigh and a gun holster around her waist. All in all it was a pretty tough appearance this girl made and Alicia’s mouth turned dry due to the fact that there was still a sharp knife pointed at her carotid. 

"I asked a question. Why are ya here?" the girl repeated in a cold, almost harsh voice. There wasn’t any emotion readable on her face and Alicia had the feeling that this girl could slice her throat right at the spot without feeling a single bit of remorse about it. 

"Looking for…for medicine", she finally managed to stammer, because she was honestly more scared of that girl than she'd been of that undead thing before. She didn’t dare to move, out of fear she’d end up bleeding out on the floor right next to it. So she didn’t dare to speak, let alone ask who the girl was, or what she was doing here herself. 

"Get the fuck outta here. And take your people with ya. They're over there by that fountain", the blonde commanded her then and pointed her in the direction. 

Alicia turned around to look if she could finally make out her family and, in fact, she could see Nick, carrying a big backpack. She was so glad to have found them, that she didn't even realize the knife to her throat was gone all of a sudden. Only as she turned back, she noticed that the blonde girl had disappeared just as fast as she'd showed up before.


	4. Meeting More Survivors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's the next chapter, you guys! I hope you like it, thanks a lot for reading! :)

“Leisha, are you alright? Where are you coming from? Where’s Travis? What happened?” her mom literally threw all these questions at her as soon as she was close enough. Maddie was obviously agitated, but managed to keep her voice down anyway, because she knew that she’d attract more of the infected if she shouted. 

“I was looking for you guys! We found the pharmacy, but there was a bunch of the infected and then…Travis said I should look for you, get you, to help him…” she explained as shortly as possible in a hushed tone. 

“You left him alone with a bunch of these things?!” Maddie was clearly upset about everything she’d just heard and she mustered Alicia with a disbelieving look. 

“He wanted me to get you, now come on!” Alicia gave back, indicating for them to follow after her. Travis needed them, it felt to her like she’d been sent away hours ago. If she was being honest, she totally didn’t know how long it actually had taken her to finally get a hold of her mom and brother. 

“Wait, what happened to you?” her mother wanted to know, grabbing her arm so that Alicia was forced to turn around to her. “Where did you get that cut?”

“And what’s it with that bat?” Nick asked as well, raising an eyebrow at her weapon of choice. 

“Mom, please, do you want to help Travis or have a chat?” she returned almost angrily. 

Couldn’t her mom see what was really important here? She was fine, nothing happened – well, except that a strange girl had threatened her with a knife after she’d spared her of making her first kill by getting rid of that monster for her. But she’d be alright, Travis on the other hand…

“You’re right, we should go looking for him!” Maddie finally decided and they made their way into the direction Alicia first had come from.

However did they not have to return the whole way, because actually Travis ran into them at half distance, a bag filled with supplies slung over his shoulder. His arms and clothes were flecked with blood, but it became quickly obvious that none of it was his own. 

“Thanks god, you’re alright”, he sighed and his face lightened up immediately as he noticed that all of them had come back and seemed uninjured. 

“What happened, Alicia? I got worried when you didn’t return”, he added then as they eventually made their way to the outside. It went without telling that neither of them desired to stay at this place any longer than absolutely necessary, because it was too dangerous. 

“I got distracted by one of the monsters…well, I found a bat, so…I’m okay”, she returned, leaving out the part with the blonde girl because she didn’t want the others to worry on her behalf. 

She was fine, right? The girl had let her go in the end. Probably she just wanted to intimidate her and make sure they didn’t come back because the mall was her territory, or something like that. So the best thing to do was just to leave and forget about it. They came here to get some meds and supplies and so they apparently did. 

“Did you get the medicine?” Nick wanted to know and Travis only nodded, pointing at the bag he was carrying. 

“You’re okay, right? You didn’t get hurt?” Maddie asked Travis and eyed him up a little worried. 

“Yeah, I’m fine…I got rid of them”, he only said. 

They all knew how less he could stand the thought of having to kill them in the beginning of it all. It had taken him a while to accept that the infected actually weren’t just sick and could be helped somehow, but they were dead monsters that had to be disposed of. His answer seemed to be enough for Maddie, though, because she took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. 

By then they’d reached their camper again and Chris who was keeping watch on the roof, waved at them excitedly. 

“You made it!” he greeted them while climbing down and pulling the door open for all of them to step back into their shell of safety. 

“I got stronger painkillers, a sanitizer, something to stich it up and some more bandages. Also some antibiotics. They didn’t have anything like a scalpel or such, but I figure one of our sharper knives will also do it, right?” Travis reported to Liza and spread out all the things he gathered. 

“Also I got a bottle of Russian vodka, 55% ABV”, Nick stated. “Just to…sooth him a little, right? I mean we don’t have any narcotics.”

“That’s what you got in that backpack?” Alicia asked.

“Well, yeah that and some more canned food, I figured, if we already went to the mall…” he trailed off, while unpacking all the cans. 

“Good thinking”, Travis complimented. “So, what do we do now? How’s Marcus doing? Will he be alright if we first drive a few miles out of town again, before we set up camp somewhere and then finally get that thing out of his shoulder?” he added then, mostly directed at Liza.

“I guess a quarter hour more or less won’t do too much bad. And better to be safe than sorry. We don’t know who else is roaming these streets here…”

“Yeah, I’m with Liza!” Alicia piped up, thinking of that girl again. Who knew if she was with a whole gang of people who enjoyed throwing knives at things? “I mean…it has proven to be safer out on the country side, right?”

So they left town without any incident on a new route that was leading them to the north-east and they drove a couple miles until it felt riskless enough to make a stop somewhere at the roadside. The rocky, sandy terrain and group of trees outside had given way to more woodland, but none of them actually cared about that fact. They were all focused on the goal of making Marcus get better and therefore the bullet had to be removed. 

“We can finally help you now”, Liza told the injured man, who’d been lying on the makeshift bed in the camper’s cooking/living area, slipping in and out of consciousness for the last couple of hours. 

“Nice”, he only managed to say, voice all raspy, and the smile he tried to give them rather looked grotesque. 

“This is gonna hurt a bit, so…Nick brought some vodka, if you need any?” Maddie informed him, holding up the bottle with the clear liquor. 

“Good boy”, Marcus returned, reaching out his uninjured arm, showing Nick a thumbs up, before he took the vodka and gulped some of it down as if it was water. 

“Okay, man…we figured there’s not enough space here, so do you think you’ll make it over to the double bed?” Travis asked him. “How’re your ribs doing there?”

Liza had informed them that it only looked like Kane had cracked some ribs, not broken them, but obviously this still hurt a lot with every move he made. She couldn’t even bandage him yet, because they didn’t have the necessary amount of bandages so far to be robust enough to be stabilizing. 

“It’s okay”, Marcus nodded and Travis helped him to sit up, which made him wince a little. 

“I’ll bandage those ribs first, alright? Then you can move over to the sleeping space”, Liza meant and started doing her work. 

When they’d finally got everything arranged, Kane drowned some more vodka, “Just to be sure I won’t jump up and land on the ceiling”, he managed to joke and Travis patted his right shoulder lightly. 

“You’re gonna be fine. Liza knows what she’s doing.” Travis reassured not only Marcus but also his ex-wife. 

And she did. It took some more vodka to calm his nerves, and Travis to hold him down, but eventually Liza cut the bullet out of Kane’s shoulder relatively quickly. It was a quite bloody procedure, though, and it could also have been a little more sterile for all of their liking, but they were aware of the fact that neither were they at a hospital, nor was Liza a doctor. But she did the best she could and finally stitched Marcus up, before finishing her work with adding a fresh patch. Afterwards Maddie made him take the first dose of antibiotics, before they eventually cleaned all up and left the injured to get some well-needed rest. 

“So, about that cut…” Maddie started, directed at Alicia, as the rest of them all were sitting in the kitchen of the camper then. “How’d you get that?”

“I don’t re-call it, mom! I mean…duh, I was running away from a horde of those things! Probably I…I got stuck somewhere…I guess?” Alicia returned, still figuring that it was the best option not to tell anyone about that blonde girl she encountered at the mall. 

She really didn’t want to upset her family. They’d had enough trouble with Marcus for that day. Worrying about a possible group of people at the mall who could attack them, didn’t seem like a good idea to her. Especially since she assumed that they weren’t in any real danger anymore, now that they’d left town. 

“Alright…but…let Liza get a look at it, okay?” Maddie gave in and also Travis nodded in agreement. 

So all that was left for Alicia, was turning to Liza and let her inspect the cut. She disinfected it and said it didn’t need a patch, it was only a scratch and just superficial. 

“What do we do now?” Chris wanted to know.

“Getting ready for the night and just…wait. Give Marcus some time to get a bit stronger. So we can question him, maybe he’s got a place to go, who knows?” Travis meant and since none of them had a better idea than that, they all agreed on it. 

OooO

“You have to be fucking kidding me, right?” Liza almost screamed at Kane the next day. 

He was better already, the antibiotics seemed to help. It was still pretty painful for him to move, but that was due to his cracked ribs. So he was half sitting, half lying on a bunch of pillows in the kitchen. And he’d just spoiled some news to them that was both exciting, but also sounded a little risky. 

“You have got to be kidding me”, Liza repeated, shaking her head as if to underline her statement. 

“No, I’m not…all I said is the truth”, Marcus clarified.

“You are telling us you got…you’re part of a group who got a doctor among them?! A real doctor! And then you let me remove that bullet!! What if…what if I’d ended up hurting you even more?”

“Liza, calm down!” Travis told her, because this wasn’t the most important fact for him to focus on right now. “You did fine, he’s gonna be alright.”

“So…you…know a doctor and instead of…telling us to get you there, you just…let us handle the situation?” he asked Kane then. Travis wasn’t actually mad like Liza, he just needed to understand. 

“I did it to protect my people. I mean…I figured you were good guys. You took me in, although you could as well just have left me there. But you took me with you and you saved my life. And that I’m really thankful for. To all of you”, Marcus started explaining himself. 

“But I first had to make sure…you know, our group, we’re about a dozen people. We became a pretty tight-knit bunch over the last couple of weeks. Some of us have been together since almost the beginning, hiding out there in the woods, a couple miles away from here. But we’ve all known each other for almost six weeks now and you may not know that yet, but that’s a lot in this world. We went through a lot together already. I consider those people my friends, we rely on each other, we’re all, each other got. So…I hope you understand that, but I had to make sure.”

“You’re good people, I know that now. I’d actually like for you to come and join our group. We could need some more people, more muscle. It’d be an advantage for all of us”, he finally proposed and the silence that followed was thorough. As if they all needed to think first, and maybe that’s what they did. 

Maddie was the first to speak: “So we just…believe you? That what you’re saying is true?”

“There’s no reason not to believe him, Maddie”, Travis pointed out. “Why should he lie at us? It’s not like we got food stockings for the next year and an armory they could rob us of.” 

“He could have told us before!” Liza interjected. 

“I just explained to you, why I could not”, Kane gave back, sounding almost a little huffy. 

“You’re right”, Maddie came around. “If your group is anything like you’re saying, you wouldn’t just tell anyone about them. So…I guess we can, in fact, believe you.” 

Travis just gave her a look that said: ‘Told you so”, but Marcus managed a smile. 

“We’re good people, too, you’ll see.”

“Can you tell us more about your people?” Alicia wanted to know then, because it was such an interesting perspective to maybe finally be able to meet more survivors. 

“Well, actually I think it would be best to just drive there and meet them”, he suggested.

They didn’t even have to debate any longer about it, because what else were the alternatives? Of course they could just stay by themselves, further driving around aimlessly like they’d done for the past two weeks. But there was strength in numbers, they all knew that. And coming together with a whole bunch of other people seemed like a pretty good perspective. It certainly would increase their odds of survival. So they silently agreed on this new plan. If those people Kane was telling them about, weren’t anything like they hoped for, they still could leave again and make it on their own. But for now, this seemed to be their best option. 

After a ten minute drive on dirt roads that took them further into the woods, they spotted a settlement of four other campers. Travis cut the engine about 50 meters away and hopped out of the camper, followed by Marcus. Both men went ahead, a few steps behind the rest of the Clark-Manawa family. 

As they came closer, a man with a rifle jumped down of one of the campers, from where he’d been watching out. 

“Marcus, where the hell have you been?” he asked, baffled, obvious worry in his voice as he examined Kane’s beaten up face. “What happened, who are these people?” He didn’t take the rifle down, but still kept it pointed at the newcomers. 

“It’s alright, Jesus”, Kane answered. “I was attacked by some rocker gang. They took my weapons, my bike, everything. Travis here, and his family, they found me and saved my life. They’re good people, so I brought them.”

Finally the man lowered his weapon and swung it over his shoulder. 

“You okay, man?” he wanted to know then, carefully hugging Marcus, who winced a little at the touch. 

“Some cracked ribs and a bullet wound”, he explained and the other nodded in understanding. 

"You look like shit", he meant then and it wasn't as much of a joke as intended to. 

"Thanks, I've felt better too", Kane gave back, but with a slight smile. 

“I’m Paul Monroe, by the way. But…my friends are calling me Jesus”, he turned to the rest of them then, putting out a hand to shake Travis’. 

“Never would have guessed why”, Nick murmured with a grin, which made them all share a laugh and finally the tension broke away. The guy actually looked like Jesus with that haircut and beard, to be fair. 

After they’d all introduced themselves, Marcus wanted to know where everyone else was.

“Abby, Monty, Maya, and Jasper are around here. Jaha went for a walk, mumbled something about making sure there weren’t any walkers close to camp…I think that’s some progress he’s making there, right? I mean, he didn’t really leave his camper in almost two weeks, since Wells…anyway. Anya, Michonne, and Clarke are out on a run”, Jesus reported.

“What about Indra?” 

“She…uhm…I’m sorry, Marcus, okay?” Jesus started evasively, but didn’t get any further, because he was cut off. 

“What about Indra?!” Kane repeated, more forcefully now. 

“She’s missing. When you didn’t come back, she went looking for you, obviously. When she didn’t return either, Michonne, Anya, and Clarke went out to find you guys and bring you back.”

“Why did you let her go by herself in the first place?” Marcus accused his friend, his voice raised now and apparently that made the rest of the camp finally notice what was going on, because four other people appeared, all with various weapons ready at hand. A woman, a girl, and two boys. 

“Marcus, you're alive!” the woman called and immediately went to hug him. 

“Careful, Abby, his ribs”, Jesus explained.

“What happened?” one of the boys wanted to know. 

“Who’re these people?” the girl said, eyeing them skeptically. 

“It’s alright, they’re with me. They saved my life. We probably should sit down and talk about everything”, Kane decided.

The four trailers were lined up in a rectangle, leaving the space in the middle for a fireplace and an accumulation of various camping chairs and two ale-benches, where they took a place on. Just as they all had settled, the sound of some motorcycle engines disrupted the silence and had all of them ready at their feet, gripping for their weapons. 

But Kane and his friends relaxed as they seemed to recognize the small group that had just arrived on their bikes. Two of them where helping another one, who seemed to be injured, to get off of one of the bikes. A fourth person hurried into their direction, shouting about what had happened:

“Mom, we need you! That girl fell down some stairs while she tried saving Anya from the walkers, you need to help her!” the girl addressed Abby, simply ignoring all the other people standing around. 

As she pulled down the shawl then, that she’d used to cover her face with against the airstream, and her features became visible, Alicia’s mouth almost dropped open. She'd seen that face before. It was the blonde girl from the mall.


	5. All Kind Of Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of response this story is getting is still amazing me every day and I'm really thankful for each and every one of you guys who's reading. Thanks! :)
> 
> P.S. for more info on a beloved character check out the end notes ;)

There was definitely too much happening at once for Alicia’s liking. They hadn’t even gotten around to introducing everyone to each other yet, when some people on motorcycles arrived, dragging along another injured person.

“What’s wrong with her?” Abby asked the blonde girl who appeared to be her daughter. 

“Leg’s broken, doesn’t look too good. Some bone sticking out there…”, she gave back, while they tried to carry the wounded girl into one of the trailers. 

“I can help, if you need me, I’m a nurse”, Liza interjected cooperatively and also Travis and Maddie had hurried already to assist the two women who dragged along the hurt one. 

“Who the fuck are you people?” the blonde girl turned to them before entering the camper, looking around now and mustering the newcomers, because she hadn’t really noticed all the additional people in their camp before. As her gaze landed on her, Alicia could see the recognition and confusion in the girl’s eyes. But it was gone in an instant, as she focused her view on Kane instead.

“Marcus, you’re back!” she called out, a little surprised. “What’s going on here?”

“How about: Hello, Marcus, nice that you’re still alive, Marcus, what happened to you?” Kane said in a mocked angry tone. 

“I’m glad you’re here. Actually”, the girl admitted and a hint of a smile spread on her face. “What happened, you alright? Anyone care to explain?”

“I could actually need your help here”, Abby had come back to the door, looking for Liza, who gladly joined her inside then to vet the injured. 

Since Travis and Maddie were already inside the trailer, Alicia and her brothers now were left outside with some people they didn’t even know. Not that she was scared or something, it just felt a little strange to suddenly be among that many people, after it had just been the six of them for some weeks before. 

“Long story short: I was beaten up by some rockers, these people here found me and helped me, so I brought them. They’re good guys”, Marcus told everyone who cared to listen. 

“Well…that’s good, I guess. More muscle for our people!” 

“You guys were looking for Indra?” Kane asked then, as a girl with ombre hair stepped out of the camper. 

“We didn’t find her – yet”, the blond girl answered, sounding really apologetic now. 

“I’m sorry, Marcus”, Jesus also interrupted. “I shouldn’t…I wouldn’t let her go on her own, but you know her…she just…up and left without thinking about it twice. That’s what she does for her friends.” 

Alicia started to feel kind of awkward by now, just standing around there with Nick and Chris, listening to some people’s conversation that they didn’t know the background of, while their parents had all went inside with Abby to help the injured girl. Hell, they didn’t even know these people to start with. They’d found Marcus less than two days ago at the roadside and now they were here, in some foreign people’s camp, without even knowing all of their names! And there wasn’t really anything to do for them, but standing there, feeling left out. She was sure they weren’t needed inside, because with a doctor and a nurse at hand, the injured girl would surely be fine…

“… we need to send out another group looking for her”, one of the boys, Jasper or Monty, was just saying. 

“I’ll leave this very day, who’s coming along?” Kane wanted to know, looking around expectantly.

“You can’t go out on a run looking for Indra in your condition! Marcus, don’t be stupid”, Jesus started to argue, sounding honestly concerned for him. Probably he couldn’t even drive in his state, at least it’d hurt a hell of a lot with these cracked ribs. 

“She’s my best friend and she’s out there by herself!” Kane gave back, incredulously, as if Jesus had lost his mind. 

“You’re injured, you need some rest – “, the other man returned, in a weak attempt to sound reasonable. 

“Don’t you tell me what I need, okay, Paul?” Marcus all but snapped at him. 

“I’ll go. Jesus, Michonne, and Anya are coming with me”, the blonde girl just decided for them, cutting off the disagreement. “You totally should get some rest, Marcus. He’s right and you know that.” 

Alicia was staring in surprise, as Marcus actually dipped his head a little, as if he was considering this proposition and then nodded. Why did he listen to that girl, but not to another grown man? And why did no one dare to disagree with her? What had this girl done to earn such an amount of respect that almost bordered on abjection? 

“Fine, you’re right”, he finally said and the girl only grinned. “As always”, she deadpanned and a few of her friends actually rolled their eyes, sighing, as if this was something they got to hear all the time. 

“We should start packing some things and plan our routes”, she then said to the others who’d accompany her on the search for Indra. 

“Good, where have you been looking already?” Jesus wanted to know. 

“Anya will tell you”, she simply returned and the girl with the ombre hair nodded in agreement. 

“Why’s she commanding people around like that?” Nick whispered to her and Chris. The latter only shrugged. 

“Because she’s badass”, Alicia gave back in a hushed voice. 

“Pretty right, I am”, the girl said with a smirk.

Alicia blushed furiously, because she hadn’t seen that coming. Where had that girl showed up from this fast? On the other hand, she should have expected that she had a thing for sneaking up on people, as she knew from the mall…

“Sorry that there’s some trouble going on here at the moment, with Indra missing, and this girl, Raven, who got injured while helping Anya…I’m Clarke, by the way”, she said and finally introduced herself, casually ignoring how flustered Alicia was. 

“I’m Alicia…those are my brothers Nick and Chris”, she returned, cheeks still burning, so she looked to the ground instead and hoped the boys hadn’t noticed. 

What she had realized however, was that Clarke didn’t speak in that thick southern accent anymore that she’d spotted at the mall. Weird. Everything about this girl seemed to be cryptic, mysterious even. Why did she act like that? One moment, as if she could actually lead a whole army into battle against the undead, the other, as if she was just the ordinary girl from next door. What did she have to prove? What made her become like that? All tough, confident, almost vain. 

“I’m glad you found Marcus…we’ve been pretty worried, as you could guess. Well…since you’re part of our people now, if anyone wanna help looking for Indra, you can join us. Otherwise…you got any questions or stuff, just ask anyone around. We’re pretty much all a big family”, now she smiled honestly and for the first time, Alicia didn’t think that she looked intimidating, or arrogant as she’d seemed before. 

“Will do”, Nick replied with a nod. 

“I’m sure my dad can come and help you looking for your friend, if you ask him”, Chris meant.

“I’d like to join you”, Alicia said, before she could think of it otherwise. 

She didn’t know why she said that, because honestly, she was scared of this world out there. And she didn’t have the feeling that she was prepared for it in the slightest, even though she finally had her own weapon yet. But it took more than a baseball bat to go out there and face all the horrible things roving about. Clarke seemed to think the same, because she was raising an eyebrow in question, and before either Nick or Chris could tell her that it was a bad idea, she already did.

“How many walkers have you killed yet?” she wanted to know.

“That’s how you guys are calling them?” Nick chipped in.

“Yeah…how do you call them?”

“Infected…undead…monsters”, he explained. 

“Anyway…how many?” Clarke repeated, turning her attention back to Alicia.

“Well…as by now…none”, she admitted in defeat. “But…I mean…I’ve gotta start sometime, right?” 

“Don’t be mad, princess, but it’s dangerous out there. We need people who know how to fight. But I appreciate your support, without question”, Clarke gave back and winked at her. 

“Also, I’d love to chat some more, but I really got to check back with the other guys. I’m sure we’ll leave within the next hour”, she added and with that she turned around to go to the camper where Kane, Jesus, and Anya had disappeared in. 

Alicia stared after her in mild shock. Who did this girl think she was that she could just talk to people like that? Princess, really? She behaved like the queen of this camp herself, Alicia thought a little huffy. She honestly didn’t have a clue what to think of this girl. Her behavior didn’t make any sense to her at all. Clarke probably was the strangest, but most intriguing person she ever met.

“What was that?” Nick mouthed as she turned around to him. He seemed just as speechless at Clarke’s display, of what best might be described as vanity, as Alicia was herself. 

She just shrugged, because she didn’t want to discuss this any further. But what she definitely wanted to do, was to find out more about Clarke. Why she behaved like that. What her story was. But since she couldn’t just ask her herself now, she went over to where Monty and Maya were stocking some fire wood. Couldn’t hurt to get to know them a little better as well, since they would be living together from now on. And maybe she could assist them a bit, because honestly she felt pretty useless once more, just standing there, doing nothing. 

“Hey there, can I help you?” she asked, as she stopped beside them. They both seemed a little younger than herself, sixteen maybe, around Chris’ age. 

“Alicia, right?” Maya asked.

“Yeah. And you’re Monty and Maya?”

“Jasper…Monty’s my best friend. He went out, looking for Jaha, who’s…wandering around somewhere”, Jasper explained.

“Right, sorry…so…how long have you guys been here?” 

“We’ve been here for a bit more than a month now, five weeks, maybe. Met the others when they saved us from some walkers…it’s a long story”, Jasper started. 

“You three stuck together from the beginning?” Alicia asked on.

“Yeah, actually…we were just on a road trip. We’re from Jackson, Wyoming. Got stuck around here on our way to Mexico….then we met the others”, Maya went on.

“What’s your story?” Jasper wanted to know then.

“We’re from L.A….at first there was a Safe Zone in our neighborhood in El-Sereno. But when the military left, we didn’t feel all that safe anymore, so we decided to drive out into the desert. Well, then we ended up here, finding Marcus”, Alicia told them, as they finished piling up the wood. 

Just then, a long, painful scream distracted them and they all looked around to the camper they’d brought the injured girl to. 

“That doesn’t sound too good at all”, Jasper commented, needlessly. 

Alicia already started wondering, where Nick and Chris had disappeared to, when both of them returned running from their own camper, some packs of meds in hand. Apparently they got the stronger painkillers that Travis had found in the pharmacy the other day. 

“Abby knows what she’s doing…she’ll be fine, I guess”, Maya meant, sitting down on one of the ale-benches, as did Jasper. Alicia figured that they couldn’t help inside anyway, so she just did the same and took a seat. 

“What happened to Jaha? Why’s he just going off on his own, looking for walkers to kill?” Alicia started a new conversation. 

“He lost his son, Wells…only about two weeks ago. They were out on a run, a walker got him. I think he’s blaming himself for it…” Maya answered. 

“I’m sorry…did you know him well?”

“As well as you get to know people in about a month in the middle of the Apocalypse”, Jasper deadpanned. “Pretty well, I guess”, he added then, more seriously and Alicia nodded. 

Time was running differently now. It only took you a couple of days to get close to people even if you actually just met them. You’ve got to stick together, help each other out, in a world like that. At least if you didn’t want to turn to the bad side. On the other hand, time measurement as they were used to it, didn’t apply anymore now. It wasn’t exactly like you could still miss an important appointment. Watches became almost useless. The most urgent matter at hand always was the problem that was just facing you at this very moment. Whether it was finding more gas, a place to stay and hide out, or a friend who went missing. 

“So, I overheard you earlier…you didn’t have to kill any walkers yet?” Jasper picked up their chat again after a while. 

“I didn’t really get into a situation yet, where it was necessary…just once. The other day we went to a mall, looking for meds. Suddenly this monster was standing there and I…I wanted to end it with a baseball bat. Someone else beat me to it”, Alicia explained, leaving out that this someone was actually Clarke. 

She didn’t really know, why she didn’t want to tell anyone about the fact that she’d met the girl before, she just kept it to herself. Like it was her own special secret that she only shared with Clarke. Maybe she was still too shocked about the fact, that one of the persons she was supposed to be staying with in this camp here, tried to slice her throat only a short while ago. So much as for time worked different now. Alicia definitely didn’t know whether she would be able to trust these people, even if she wanted to. But Clarke’s behavior made her wonder. 

“Did you have to kill many?” she asked then, directing her thoughts on something else. 

“Some. Ten, maybe fifteen…I don’t keep count on them”, Maya returned and Jasper nodded. 

“What did you do before all that? Where are your parents?”

“We tried to get back to them…as soon as…the infection spread and things got worse, we tried to get back home, but…things went down south pretty fast. So, we…kinda never saw them again and ended up here instead”, Jasper told. 

There wasn’t any emotion in his voice that gave him away, but his eyes told her, that he obviously was still hurting about the loss of his family. For the first time, Alicia was made aware of how privileged she actually was. Not only did she not have to kill anyone or anything yet, didn’t get her hands dirty. But also was her whole family with her, alive and well. They’d made it this far, they had a mobile home, food, water, meds. That was more than a lot of people could say these days. 

“So, you guys…just are staying here…try building some kind of settlement or something?” she went on, because she felt it was too depressing, talking about people that they lost. 

Actually Alicia had spent very little time thinking about that. All the people she left behind. Her friends from school, Matt. He hadn’t crossed her mind in days, because there were always more important issues to worry about. Things that happened right there, right now. Maybe over-thinking stuff, considering your feelings about people, was a luxury that you couldn’t afford any longer in a world like the one they were living in now. 

“That’s the plan, eventually. But…there are always some obstacles, of course. There are too many bad guys out there…” Maya hinted and trailed off then. 

“There are…” Alicia agreed on this thought she’d had before. Then they fell into silence once more, another scream of the injured girl the only noise around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Clarke is named Clarke, but that doesn't mean Elyza won't be in the story as well! Confused now? ;) Stay tuned :P


	6. Recollections and Adjustment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! I'm back with the next chapter :D this time it's mostly from Clarke's PoV, I hope you like it! :)

On the road: Clarke’s PoV

They left camp right after they’d mapped out some new routes that they hadn’t taken yet on their search for Indra. It went without saying that not losing any more time was of utmost importance, because if Indra was hurt, which seemed a likely possibility, then there was a great chance that walkers would get to her rather sooner than later. Of course she was a tough woman and could totally handle herself, but considering that she didn’t make it back to camp on her own, she clearly needed the help of her friends now. 

“What did Kane say about those guys who came after him?” Clarke asked her companions while they were sneaking through brushwood close to the road that led into another town which wasn’t too far from their camp. 

It seemed safer to leave their bikes behind and walk, instead of just driving into some town they’d never been to before, because the sound of the engines wouldn’t only attract more walkers, but possibly living enemies as well. In those last couple of weeks they’d learned pretty fast that it always seemed to be the smarter option not to provoke any trouble with other survivors in the first place. Most folks were reasonable and you could discuss things out with them, split your food, your gas, or weapons, when it came down to that. But they’d also already encountered some quite unpleasant fellows so far who weren’t as easily talked down. 

There’d been one particular incident that Clarke put as far to the back of her mind as even possible and if someone dared to mention it, she’d immediately change the topic every time. It was still hard to ignore, though. Forgetting it was impossible anyway, but when some of the people who were present during said occurrence were living in a small camp with you and you got to see them 24/7, then pushing away certain memories was a truly hard job to do. 

That’s why Clarke liked to keep herself occupied with everything that was going on. No matter what it was, she’d be the first to try and handle things. So it turned out after what had happened, after what she had to do in order to survive, in order to safe her friends, she became the one who, more or less, was running the camp by now. Obviously she didn’t think of her position like that. Everyone had a say in everything. But after her comrades, her friends, witnessed what she’d done that day, they unanimously seemed to have made the silent agreement to choose Clarke as something like their leader. She never asked for that, ever. She didn’t see herself as a leader, but she was growing into that role more and more every day, because the others had put her into this position. So now that’s what she did, tried to do at least. Making decisions to keep her people alive the best she could. 

Before the world ended, she’d have laughed at the sole idea of this. Clarke never wanted to be this person, never wanted to make tough decisions. But here she was. Just a girl and yet, even the adults in the group showed her a kind of respect, that she didn’t think she deserved, at all. Not for what she did. But things couldn’t be changed now. There was no going back, no trying differently. The whole group had told her repeatedly, that it was her only choice. That she did the right thing. That some of them wouldn’t be here now without her. Clarke didn’t want to hear any of these discussions anymore. She just accepted her new role and kept doing what she had to do for her people. Because that’s all that mattered to her now: keeping her family alive. 

“They were some gang of tough guys. Had motorcycles, brass knuckles, rifles. The usual…” Michonne started to re-tell what Marcus had said earlier. 

“They asked him if he was alone, whether he wanted to join them”, Jesus added. “Obviously he didn’t, so…they said he either was on their team or an opponent. Well, since he chose to be the latter, they didn’t give him any chance. It was three of them…”

“Did they want anything? Like, mark their territory, make sure there aren’t any intruders?” Clarke wanted to know then. 

“He didn’t mention anything about that”, Michonne gave back. 

“Walkers”, Anya interrupted and pointed out a group of five shuffling ahead to their right. 

“I’ll get them”, Michonne said, her katana sword already at hand. It took her just an instant to get rid of the walkers, she beheaded them with an admirable ease and grace that almost was to be envied. 

Clarke was glad she had people like Michonne and Anya on her team. They actually were the first ones they’d met after leaving their home in the city behind, to hide out somewhere in the wilderness. The two of them had also only just met mere days before that and decided to stick together, because they got along amazingly and were pretty much alike. They weren’t people of big words, rather they let their actions speak and they’d proved to be great team players, even if they could get along on their own just as well. Clarke trusted both of them with her life and that wasn’t something said easily these days. 

Just as the two women, Jesus was a really laid back guy. He could kill a dozen walkers in one moment, without even batting an eye, and crack a joke in the next. Sometimes she wished she’d already met these people before everything went to crap. It was a calming thought imagining them together at a bar, just having some drinks, playing billiard. Not that they couldn’t do this as well now, it just would have felt more normal back then.  
But they’d actually broken into a few deserted bars together, just to have some fun. Though, it pretty much always ended with walkers showing up, ruining everything, reminding them of what was going on in the world outside of their temporary built little bubble. One time, a group of grim looking old dudes drove them out, because they claimed that bar as their property. 

“I didn’t think I’d ever be thrown out of a bar again”, Jesus just deadpanned afterwards. It was one of the little happy and funny moments they’d all enjoyed since the world ended. If it wasn’t the end of the world, though, Clarke wouldn’t even be allowed to drink, legally. She was only 19 after all. But nobody gave a damn now, not even her mom was complaining. Not after what happened about one and a half months ago. 

“What’s the plan now?” Jesus wanted to know then, as they moved closer to where the town was. He didn’t know their approach yet, because he hadn’t accompanied them on their search for Indra before. 

“I’d say we need to get out onto the road first to move on”, Anya said, since they were almost at the edge of the wood. A field and a bridge over a river separated them from the next town. 

“Wait a moment”, Michonne put her arm out to stop everyone from moving on outside of their covering. “Do you see that?” She pointed out something a bit more than a quarter mile away, over there close to the bridge. 

“Are they…guarding the passage?” Clarke asked incredulously, staring at the two little black figures just standing around there. 

“Well, if they’re asking for toll, I don’t think they’ll get happy here, with all the cars passing by recently”, Jesus commented sarcastically. 

“What are we gonna do?” Michonne wanted to know, looking at the others in question. 

“They’re only two guys, we’re four”, Anya meant and Clarke shook her head at that. 

“Don’t think about it, we don’t know what they’re up to”, she said. 

It wasn’t really an option for her to get into unnecessary trouble that could easily be avoided. Obviously they could just walk over there and ask these people what they wanted in return for the right of passage. But if they had bad intentions, then it would be better to keep away from them in the first place. They had more important things to do than getting into an argument with some jerks. 

“Let’s look on the map and check if there’s another possibility to cross the river”, Clarke decided after a moment and Jesus already rummaged in his bag, looking for it. 

“Guys”, Michonne interjected just as they spread out the map.

“What’s it?” Clarke wanted to know, focusing on other possible ways into town. 

“Look!”

Two more people just were approaching those on the bridge. It was hard to tell from this distance, but it didn’t look like they knew each other. So they just stood there, observing what was happening. How the guys blocking the way were reacting to those who apparently wanted to cross.  
For a while it seemed like they were just talking, arguing maybe. Then it looked like the two who’d come by, wanted to turn back again. But only for a moment. In the next instant they could hear a shot fired, then another. The two guards dropped down, apparently dead. And the two others seemed to argue about it now. Probably one of them didn’t agree with the fact that they’d just killed two people. 

Clarke tried not to be shocked, or scared. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen people directing their weapons at each other, but it would definitely always unsettle her. She couldn’t believe that this was what the world had turned into. People killing each other over the right of crossing a bridge. However, she had to get a grip on her nerves, they were here to find Indra after all. Also she didn’t want to show the others that what they’d just seen, intimidated her. 

“Let’s see things from the bride side: at least they’re gone”, Jesus said, although he, too, seemed pretty tense after what they’d just witnessed. 

“Well, yeah, but these two people who shot them are walking about!” Anya meant, almost sounding snippy. 

“Let’s wait for another ten minutes, give them some lead. Then we can go over as well” Clarke proposed, calmer now. 

If it came down to it, they still could defend themselves. They were twice as many and could all handle their weapons pretty well. If someone should be afraid, then those two people. 

 

In camp: Alicia’s PoV

Night was slowly setting and most of them were sitting around the fireplace in the space between the campers, having dinner. They’d aligned them differently earlier, now it wasn’t a rectangle anymore but five campers parked around the area in between. 

Raven, the injured girl, was the only one who’d stayed inside, because she was too weak to move yet. Marcus was much better already, Abby had also told him to rest for some hours and who was he to disagree with a doctor. Even Jaha was there, participating. Maya had told her earlier, that this was a big step for him, had he barely even left his bed in those two weeks since his son died. Though he didn’t really talk much, the others still tried their best to include and coax some words out of him. 

Actually everyone got along pretty great, Alicia had to admit. The adults all were chatting to each other as if they were part of a group of regulars who’d been meeting weekly for the last five years. Chris and Monty had hit it off really well, too, they were talking about fixing stuff, from car engines to electric generators. 

Nick and Jasper discussed computer games they used to play and Alicia was glad, that with Maya, there was another girl around her age. Because living with two brothers for the past few weeks had been kind of annoying, even if they’d arranged and stuck together as best as they could due to the events going on around them. 

“Why’s everyone doing what Clarke says?” Alicia dared to ask her new friend after they’d finished eating. This was a question that hadn’t left her mind all day and she was really curious about it.

“Are they?” Maya gave back, rising an eyebrow as if she didn’t know what she was talking about. Maybe she really didn’t know. 

“It seemed like it earlier. When she stopped Kane and Jesus from getting into an argument”, she returned, re-calling what she’d observed that morning. “The way she just decided for everyone…”

“Those two are always at loggerheads”, Maya gave back, laughing, avoiding her prior question. But Alicia couldn’t tell if she did it on purpose or not. 

“Don’t they get along? I thought everyone here’s great friends?” Alicia wanted to know, letting the Clarke-topic go for now. She could always just try and talk to the girl herself when she was back again, getting to know her that way. “At least that’s what Kane said.”

“No…yeah, everyone’s getting along just fine. You know, considering that this bunch of people that we are…just kind of randomly was forced together. But we’ve been doing really well with each other and by now…we’re friends, family even”, Maya told. 

“Jesus and Marcus, they…I’m not sure about it. But from what I think, it seems that Jesus likes him. A lot. And probably doesn’t know how to handle it.” 

“Oh”, Alicia made as she realized what the other girl hinted on. “You mean, Jesus…likes likes him?”

“I guess you could put it like that”, Maya agreed with a grin. 

“And you and Jasper?” Alicia asked after a moment, also grinning now. 

“Are you Gossip Girl? But yeah, he’s my boyfriend”, she admitted then, a smile spreading on her face. 

“How long have you guys been dating?”

Probably it would have been nosy and kind of gossipy to ask all these questions, but that was before the world turned to ashes. Now, it was just nice talking about random, normal topics, anything else than weapons, walkers, or food rations was always more than welcome. 

Just as Maya was about to give an answer, though, a growl somewhere to their left distracted them. A walker had found its way to their camp, apparently attracted by all of their chatter. Now it was stuck on one of the wooden pales that were driven into the ground as a defense wall from the monsters. 

“Let me get it”, Travis meant, getting up, already gripping for his knife. 

And just with that, it became painfully obvious to them once more, that this here, what they were doing, wasn’t just sitting at a nice bonfire. They weren’t a group of campers or scouts just enjoying some days off. It hadn’t been their choice coming here into the woods, hiding out afar from what once had been civilization. They’d basically been driven here, because they didn’t have any other choice if they wanted a chance to survive. No matter what they did these days, no matter how far away danger seemed to be, in the end it always got to them. It never let them go. There was always that one walker that would remind them of what the world had become. There probably always would be, from now on. 

“I guess it’s time to go inside”, Abby said and everyone simply agreed. 

After that sudden realization, nobody seemed eager to pretend that everything was alright, because it wasn’t. So they decided that Nick, Travis, and Monty would keep the first watch for this night and while everyone else retreated into the trailers, the three of them climbed up on the roofs to have a better lookout. 

 

In town: Clarke’s PoV

It didn’t make any sense to keep looking for Indra in pitch blackness. This night seemed to be especially dark and using flashlights wasn’t a possible option for more than just one reason. First, it would attract walkers. Maybe it would even attract more than that, namely people who were still sticking around here. Apart from that, they shouldn’t waste batteries if they didn’t absolutely need to, because batteries were among the scarce goods that needed to be used with caution. So they decided to settle down for the night in an empty family home. 

First they cleaned it out and rid it of the handful of walkers that were stumbling around in it. Probably the family that had lived here before. Then they took some mattresses out of the bedrooms and put them into the living room downstairs, because obviously not everyone could sleep on the couch. However, it was safest to sleep together somewhere close to a door. Just in case they had to make a fast exit. Afterwards they lit some candles that they’d found, then combed through the kitchen and storage room for something eatable that wasn’t canned beans. They’d definitely had enough of those already.

“Look at that!” Jesus said, excitedly, as he pulled a can of fruit salad out of a cupboard. 

“Yay, fruit that isn’t moldy and rotten”, Clarke declared happily, while she was about to set the kitchen table. 

“I got something that’s even better”, Michonne meant and showed them a two pound can of chocolate pudding.

“No way!”

“I think this is the best day I had in about two months”, Clarke deadpanned.

Obviously they all knew why they were here, what they were doing, why they weren’t back at their camp with the rest of their group. But as unpleasant as this whole situation was, at least they could make the best out of it, couldn’t they? Because that’s what they did now, that’s what life had turned into. Making the best out of the worst possible circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember Carl with that huge can of chocolate pudding, sitting on the rooftop and eating ALL of it, after they had to leave the prison in s4 of TWD? Yeah, because that's where I got the pudding idea from ;D it was a good scene...


	7. Pike's Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more the 100 characters will show up/be mentioned here ;)

In town: Clarke’s PoV

It felt like they’d turned into some kind of special soldiers due to the way they were moving through town, always on guard, weapons at the ready. Their mission: finding their missing friend before the walkers could. Everything surrounding them was hauntingly deserted, there wasn’t a single living soul around besides them. However there were walkers, quite a lot to their displeasure. But they could handle it, at least for now. In order to not attract even more of them, they only used their knives, Michonne her sword, for eliminating them. 

By noon they’d searched through a considerable amount of buildings already. A hospital, a pharmacy, a few little shops. Nothing. There wasn’t a single sign that Indra was anywhere around here. When Marcus disappeared a few days ago, he’d been on a run for meds with Indra and Jesus. As they couldn’t find him, the two latter had returned to camp in order to alert the rest of their group and plan looking for him. But then Indra had left on her own, because she didn’t want to let any more time go to waste. It was almost kind of ironical, that now Kane was back safely, but his best friend was missing instead. 

If Clarke was being honest, she didn’t really have a plan at all where they should start looking for her. But it had to be somewhere, so the most reasonable spots seemed to be places where there were meds, right? On the other hand, she could as well have been taken by some strangers, maybe killed, maybe held hostage. Or in another worst case scenario, she could also likely be one of the walkers by now. 

She mentally scolded herself for thinking these horrid things and suggested to take a short break to get her mind set on other topics instead. Indra was a tough bone, she was ex-military, top-ranking, so she hopefully should be able to handle herself for a while…  
It was early May and unusually hot already, even for a clear day in Arizona. Probably a break would do them just fine. Since they were close to a small grocery store, they decided to search it for some water and snacks. 

“Stop!” Clarke said, though, before Jesus could try to pull the door open, and alerted her friends. 

“Someone’s been there”, she explained as he turned around to look at her a little confused. She pointed at the wooden boards that had been attached to the door’s lowest part from the inside because the glass that used to be there had been broken. 

“Do you think this was done after?” he replied, inspecting it a little closer. 

“Could be…seems likely”, Anya commented. 

“Let’s look inside anyway?” Michonne meant and it rather sounded like a question. 

“Fine. Let’s”, Clarke agreed after a moment where she’d internally sighed and debated if this actually was a good idea. 

They could run right into a trap for all they knew. But since there didn’t really seem to be other people around, it appeared to be relatively safe, at least. And they could need some drinks and spend some time in the shadow. She thought that she’d never missed electricity and air-conditioning that much before. But it was always like that, you take things for granted as long as they are there and only learn to appreciate them when they are gone…

Jesus tried to pull the door open, but it was closed. They also couldn’t look inside because there was cardboard pinned to the windows. Probably this wasn’t a good idea after all and they should rather be looking for another shop instead. Just as she wanted to suggest that they should leave it be and move on, Anya called out in warning. 

“Guys!”

She spun around, along with Jesus, to see what was going on. Two strangers had sneaked up on them without even being noticed. A young dark skinned man and a girl with braids in her black hair; both of them didn’t look delighted in the slightest to see them here. The two of them were dressed in army uniforms, which could probably just be for camouflage, but they could as well be actual soldiers. So Clarke figured it was best if they didn’t risk taking it on with them. 

They held Michonne and Anya in a grip from behind, while they were pressing their weapons to their necks. Clarke gripped her knife a little tighter, but she didn’t even think of throwing it, she didn’t have a death wish, and also didn’t want to risk the lives of her friends. 

“What are you doing here?” the man asked, gripping Michonne a little harder and pushed her to her knees. 

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Clarke countered instead of answering his question, falling into her pretended southern accent like she always did with strangers. “Leave them alone”, she all but hissed. But obviously they weren’t really impressed, being in the stronger position here. 

“That’s our place”, the girl returned, glaring at them, pressing her knife closer to Anya’s throat. “What do you want here?”

“We’re searching for a friend”, Jesus finally said after some consideration. Clarke gave him a quick, warning look not to tell them too much more; but she was sure that he wouldn’t dare to anyway, he wasn’t dumb after all. 

“We didn’t see anyone around here”, the guy snarled, his gun still directed at Michonne’s head. 

“Where you the people gunning down these guards at the bridge the other day?” Anya asked, pretty bravely, considering there was a knife pointed at her throat. 

“What are you talking about?” the man returned, a little baffled and actually eased his grip on Michonne a little. 

“Do you know who they could be?” Clarke wanted to know, taking from his reaction that he honestly didn’t know what Anya was talking about. Which hopefully was a good sign, because then it was a little less likely that all of them might end up dead pretty soon. 

“You get the hell away from our place or we won’t tell you a thing”, the girl said. 

“We don’t want anything from your place”, Clarke explained, trying to be as reasonable as possible. Actually she was quite good with words, negotiating with people, keeping situations like these calm. That might be one of the reasons why her companions let her do most of the talking all the time. “Just let my friends go, okay?”

“Step away there, first”, the man demanded and Clarke and Jesus complied immediately, even lowering their weapons to show them that they didn’t have any bad intentions. 

“Better?” she meant and couldn’t avoid for it to sound a little sarcastic.

Finally the strangers also lowered their weapons and took some steps away from Anya and Michonne, who got up and went to stand with their friends instead. Now they were four against two, but they remained at their spots, just watching each other, still glaring. 

“So…do you know anything about these guys guarding the bridge, or don’t you?” Clarke repeated her prior question then. 

“I don’t know…could be some of Pike’s men”, the girl gave back with a shrug. 

“Who’s Pike?” she wanted to know immediately, because it appeared that she could actually get some interesting info out of her. 

“The asshole who recruited my brother, with his fancy bikes and drugs and weapons and whatever else they promised him”, she willingly told them and seemed to be pretty pissed at this Pike person. 

“Recruited?” Jesus whispered and Clarke knew what he was thinking of. Maybe those were the same guys who asked Marcus to join them. 

“I take it they only hire guys?” she dug deeper then, as this thought occurred to her. 

“Duh, that’s the thing, ain’t it? That’s why I couldn’t join them, too. Not that I wanted to, in the first place. But now they want us to leave here, but nope, we won’t. Guy’s pissing one off with his territory bullshit.”

“That’s enough, O”, the man cut her off. “They want any more intelligence they gotta pay for it!”

“What do you want?” Clarke gave back. 

They should at least hear them out, because that Pike guy didn’t sound like a good fella at all. Rather like someone they should stay far away from. If his men actually were those who beat up Kane, then this was just one more reason not to cross ways with them. They didn’t make the impression that they could be discussed or negotiated with. 

“Some info in return”, the man suggested and Clarke flinched. She absolutely hated to tell strangers anything about herself or her people. But she had a plan for that at hand, obviously. Something she’d figured out early on in those days they’d spent on the road and at their camp. Actually it was something she decided on after the awful things that she’d done weeks prior… 

“Your turn”, she indicated that they should start asking their questions first. 

“You really looking for a friend here or are you just scavengers?” A simple and harmless enough question. 

“As I said: we’re here for a friend”, she only replied. 

“What happened?”

“She got lost”, Clarke said in an almost mocking way, but managed to suppress a grin. 

It wasn’t her intention to fool around with these people, but what should she do if they asked stuff like that? Like seriously, why else would they be looking for Indra if not for the reason that she went missing? 

“Biters?” the man wanted to know. 

“Excuse me?”

“Biters could have got her”, he clarified. 

She didn’t want to consider that option at all, so she continued to query instead: “What does this Pike want?” 

“What does he want? I don’t think he wants anything, but proving who’s boss around here”, the girl answered now. “He’s pretty big with his words. I think they broke into some banks, stealing gold bars. They actually use them as a barricade. It’s pretty ridiculous if you ask me, but that’s the kind of guys they seem to be…”

“So, you’re saying he isn’t any real danger?”

“I didn’t say that…But wait, it’s our turn to ask questions!” the girl interrupted herself as she remembered their deal. 

By now Clarke knew that these two weren’t bad guys. They just wanted to protect their place from intruders, that’s probably all. That didn’t mean they couldn’t be dangerous, though, but she didn’t think that they’d turn onto them. Not now that they were just standing around here, simply trying to have a chat. 

“Is it only the four of you, or do you got any more people?” the man inquired now. 

“Nope, just the four of us”, Clarke meant, trying not to sound too short-spoken. 

She’d always been one for telling white lies. Or not telling the whole truth if she could avoid arguments or trouble that way. But lying to people never had been easier than these days. If they wanted to believe the things she said, then be it. She wouldn’t give away anything that could get her people in danger. She’d tell them other things, though. Things that weren’t too personal. If she knew about a possible bad guy like Pike, she’d let these people know as well. But details about her friends and family? That wasn’t something she’d just give away easily. Obviously she knew that the two strangers could fool her just as well. That what they knew about Pike and his crew wasn’t true either. But why would they make it up if they apparently couldn’t stand the guy, too? 

“I think he could be dangerous, Pike. Well, his people could, if he wanted them to. If they felt their property endangered, or something like that”, he answered to her and it sounded truthful. 

“I see”, Clarke mused. “Thanks for your cooperation”, she added then, one side of her mouth quirking up in a fake-smile. 

“You leaving now?” the girl asked.

“That’s what you wanted, right?”

 

The camp: Alicia’s PoV

Since it was a really hot day, some of them had decided to go down to the little creek not far away from their camp to do the laundry. This way, they could at least get a little refreshment while also getting some work done. For Alicia it felt like they’d been thrown back to medieval times without electricity. By now she’d accepted that she’d probably never be able to use her phone or I-Pod anymore, ever again. But it was still really strange not to have a dishwasher or washing machine around for everyday chores. 

Getting their clothes clean again was literally the single most exhausting activity she’d ever done and she was glad that they didn’t have to wonder anymore whether it was socially acceptable, or not, to wear the same outfit for a week. That didn’t mean that she didn’t care for her personal hygiene anymore, it was just something that wasn’t of utmost importance now. Who cared if she was wearing the latest fragrance by whatever pop singer decided to create their own perfumes? It certainly wouldn’t stop the monsters from ripping her to shreds, since it wasn’t like those things cared if they got their human in some special flavor. 

She just was about to scrub her black jeans for the umpteenth time, as she heard someone running through the woods behind them. Immediately everyone around – that meant Alicia, her mom, Chris, Abby, Maya, and Jasper – turned around, gripping for their weapons. But it was just Monty who’d come to find them, so they already started to relax again. However, just for a moment, because what he had to tell them, was huge news. 

“Indra’s back!” he said, a little out of breath, as he’d apparently just run down from their camp. It wasn’t even a quarter mile away, but it was really burning hot that day. “Some guys dropped her off”, he added, kneeling down to splash some water onto his face. 

“What happened?” Abby immediately wanted to know, the dirty laundry lying around forgotten. 

“Said she’s gonna tell her story when everyone’s around so she doesn’t have to repeat it twenty times”, Monty explained.

“Typically Indra, always pragmatic…” Jasper commented with a grin. Everybody seemed pretty relieved that she was back. 

“Is she alright?” Alicia asked, remembering the state Marcus was in when they found him. 

“She says she is, obviously. But she looks pretty rough…you should probably have a look at her, Abby. She didn’t really trust Liza yet…” Monty meant. 

They just left the laundry right where it was – who should come and take it after all? Definitely not some walkers – and made their way back to camp as fast as they could handle in this heat. When they arrived there, Marcus was just about to persuade Indra to let Liza take a look at her injuries. She didn't look as bad as he had the day they found him, but her lip was split and she was spotting a black eye. Apart from that she appeared to be fine, but grim looking, determined. 

“Indra!” Abby called out, as soon as she saw her and went to hug her but stopped at the last moment. Maybe Indra wasn’t a hugger, at least she didn’t seem like it at all. “What did they do to you?”

“You all here now?” she wanted to know, not much impressed. 

Alicia thought that it would definitely take some time to get along with this woman. But since she was Kane’s best friend, there had to be something likeable about her, right? Travis introduced the rest of them who’d just come back from the stream to Indra and then they were all looking at the woman expectantly. 

“Where’s Clarke and the girls?” Indra asked as she realized that there were some people missing from their group. 

“They’re out, looking for you, the girls, and Jesus”, Abby explained, eyeing Indra’s injuries and she just nodded. 

“They want us to leave…” Indra got right to the point then. Apparently she wasn’t someone for many words.

“Those guys…I met them when I went searching for Marcus. I should’ve seen that they weren’t good news. But I asked them anyway, they seemed to know something!” she went on. It sounded like she was justifying herself. 

“Three guys on heavy bikes, with brass knuckles, all in matching leather jackets?” Kane asked, describing the ones who beat him up.

“Yeah, those…They’re the ones who got you?” Indra returned, looking at his swollen face in sympathy as if she didn’t have to endure the very same fate. 

“And they took you?” he wanted to know then.

“They did. I didn’t see where they brought them, put something over my head. When they removed it, I was in a plain room with closed windows and blinds. So I had no idea where I was. Then that guy…their leader came to talk to me. They called him Pike. He said he knows that we’re a group of some people and I should tell them where the rest of us are, otherwise he’s gonna kill me”, she reported.

“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to tell them….”

“It’s okay, Indra, we understand”, Abby said in a calming voice.

“Nobody is blaming you”, Jaha confirmed and Marcus nodded. 

“No, you don’t get it!” Indra gave back in a sharp tone. “You don’t understand. He said…if I don’t tell them, he’ll kill me. But then they could find you on their own and eliminate you too. Then he proposed that…if I’ll tell them where our camp is, at least I could warn you. At least we got a choice now. Either we leave here, move away, out of their territory. Or we’ll end up dead.”

“But that isn’t right, they cannot just tell us what to do!” Marcus meant a little enraged.

“Who is this guy even?” Jasper wanted to know.

“Why does he think it’s his land?” Maya chipped in as well. 

“Yeah and where does “his land” even begin and end?” Chris argued. 

“What if we don’t move, will they come back to check on us?” Travis asked.

“Believe me, they will”, Indra only meant and her tone was enough to send a cold shiver down Alicia’s spine. 

“When?” was the only thing Jaha wanted to know. 

“Soon…they said we got until tomorrow night to be gone here”, Indra told them, leaving them in collective shock for a moment. 

“So, this means we’re leaving then?” her mom beat her to finally ask this question. 

“We have to wait for Clarke and the others to return!” Abby threw in. “We cannot just go!”

“Why should we just do what these people say?” Nick argued. “I mean why should we just listen to them, it’s not their land. Not more than it’s ours.”

“Yeah, we’ve build a good thing here, didn’t we?” Maya supported him. 

“You didn’t see those guys”, Marcus simply said. 

“You don’t know, what they’re capable of. They’re not hurting other people because they have to, but because they want to”, Indra endorsed. This seemed to be enough persuasion.


	8. Sacrifices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, here's the next chapter! Now finally with a bit more conversation going on between Clarke and Alicia :) Enjoy reading!

Clarke’s PoV

It was early the next morning when they made their way back to camp. After they’d learned about this Pike guy, they continued their search for Indra for the rest of the day. But nothing. None of them really seemed to have a clue where else they still could look for her. Or if there still was someone left they could look for. With each hour that passed and they didn’t find her, Clarke realized that it was becoming more and more likely to never see Indra alive again. But she didn’t want to give up on her just like that. 

And as they retreated to another empty house for the night, nobody said a word. Though they all came to the same conclusion. They couldn’t keep this up forever. Rather they should go back to camp, talk this out with the rest of their group and then decide how to further approach. One thing was for sure, they didn’t want to give up just yet, didn’t want to lose all of their hope. She still could be out there. But they would never find her like that, they needed another strategy, only Clarke couldn’t really think of anything else yet and neither could her companions. That’s why they silently agreed on going back to camp this morning. 

“You gotta tell him. Marcus…” Jesus said to Clarke, as they were walking through the woods to the place where they’d left their motorcycles. “It’s my fault she’s gone…I can’t tell him we didn’t find her”, he added then and looked as if he might want to slam his head against the next possible inanimate object. 

“I’m gonna tell him we didn’t find her, yet”, she gave back, pressing his arm lightly in reassurance. “How was it your fault? You couldn’t have stopped her from going after him, you know how stubborn she is.”

“I should have gone with her”, he meant and Clarke only rolled her eyes a little, because she didn’t think there was any need for moping yet. At least that’s what she wanted to believe. 

“We’ll find her.”

“You don’t know that”, Anya interjected distrustfully and highly reasonable. 

“You’re right, I don’t know that”, Clarke admitted, but she didn’t sound defeated. She wasn’t, rather determined to not give up that easily. 

As they returned to camp on their bikes a bit later, everything was quiet. Everyone probably still was asleep, except for Jaha, Monty and one of the new kids – Chris? – who were on watch. Monty was first to climb down from top of the camper to come and meet them.

“Good, you’re back”, he greeted them, a stern look on his face. 

“What happened?” Clarke immediately wanted to know, as she dismounted from her bike, because she could literally read from his features that something wasn’t alright. 

“If we’re not gone here until night falls, we’re dead”, Monty reported.

“What? Where’s that coming from?” Michonne threw in unbelievingly. 

“A guy named Pike said so…” he started, but Clarke disrupted him.

“How do you know about Pike?” she immediately wanted to know. 

“How do you know about him?” the new boy, Chris, asked back.

“I asked first”, Clarke pointed out, giving him an irritated look as if she was shocked by his lack of manners. “What happened while we were gone?” she wanted to know then, directing her view at Jaha. 

“Indra’s back”, he simply returned. 

“What the heck is going on here?!” Jesus called out in disbelief.

Before anyone else could get out another word, Abby appeared in the door of her trailer, looking like she’d just woken up. Her face softened, as she spotted Clarke.

“You’re back”, she said, not without audible relief in her voice. 

“Could someone finally explain what happened?” Clarke asked her mother, but it was someone else who answered.

“Fine, I’ll tell the story one more time then”, Indra meant, stepping out of one of the other campers.

If they hadn’t been told about Pike before, Clarke probably wouldn’t believe what Indra was saying. This guy sounded like the biggest poser who sadly seemed to have found some people stupid enough to carry out his freaky wishes and demands. And apparently they could pose an actual threat for them. But why should they just carve? Why just listen to some crazy person who appeared to believe he was the king of the apocalypse? 

They had beaten up Kane, and Indra, which was an endlessly coward act, considering she was a woman held captive by them. Guys who beat women were complete and utter crap, but were they really able to go this last step and kill someone? What if they were, in fact, just a bunch of idiots with pretty big mouths who only were spineless and disgusting enough to hit a woman? 

On the other hand, the girl they’d met in town the day before had mentioned that it could very well have been Pike’s guys who just shot those people on the bridge in cold blood…  
Clarke didn’t really know what she should make of it all, first and foremost she was glad that Indra was alive. But apart from that? It seemed a number too big for her to just decide whether they’d be leaving or staying. Although she didn’t just want to give in to some bullies. Because maybe that’s all they were…bullies. But they didn’t really know that.

“We shouldn’t just give in”, she finally said after some consideration. “We should at least try to talk to them, find out what they want. Maybe we can negotiate.”

“What they want? What they want is proving who’s boss here. That’s what it is about! They don’t tolerate any other groups around who could dispute them to the gas, or food, or ammo here”, Indra explained fiercely. 

“Look, it’s not like we have to stay here. We can move around to wherever we want”, Marcus proposed. 

“That’s not what this is about”, Clarke gave back. “Some guy tells us to fuck off and we just get up and leave?”

“Yeah, that’s not right!” Jasper agreed with her and Maya nodded encouragingly. 

“I don’t think we should anyone let us tell what we can or cannot do! What do you think will happen, if we just leave? We find a place elsewhere, fine. But what if there are other guys like this Pike around there? What if they tell us to get off “their” land as well? Do you want to keep moving around for…whatever long it’ll be…” here she just cut herself off. 

Clarke realized that she was angry that some of her people just wanted to give up like this. But she couldn’t let her anger speak for herself. They needed to come to some agreement and it needed to be logical and reasonable. Getting angry at each other for disagreeing wouldn’t help at all. Also she couldn’t just accuse the rest of them that they were just hanging in there, instead of really trying to survive. She couldn’t blame them that the only thing they were thinking about was not turning into a walker themselves. But she somehow did. Because she sacrificed so much of herself for this group. She sacrificed important and beloved parts of her old life to keep some of these people alive. They wouldn’t even be here without her. So could she really not blame them for being the only one who seemed to actually think of some future ahead that wasn’t just including the very next day? 

“I think Clarke and I should take a walk”, Indra said, disrupting her thoughts. 

She really didn’t want to hear some lecture now. Indra didn’t need to point out to her again how dangerous she believed this Pike and his men could be. She got that, she really did. But that didn’t mean they just had to do what they wanted, right? Reluctantly she went along for a short walk away from camp. 

“Just say it”, Clarke meant, ready for Indra’s criticism. She was the only one who actually dared to openly disagree with her most of the time. Well, other than her mom, but that was something entirely else. And Clarke was glad about this, if she was being honest. It was refreshing and she needed this input. She’d almost go as far as saying Indra was something like a mentor for her, because she was tough, she didn’t take shit, and she called people out on being wrong. 

“You might be some kind of leader for our people because of the things you did for us, the sacrifice you made to keep us all alive…and believe me, I am glad, too, I am. But you're still just a girl. You don't always know yet what the right call is, let me tell you that”, Indra started and it almost sounded like a little warning. So Clarke didn’t dare to interrupt her. 

“Just because you did these horrible things in order to safe us, doesn't mean you're always right and you always know what's going on in this world, let alone how to handle it. Kane and I used to work in war zones, we've been to Afghanistan for several years and the things we saw...the things we did...they're equally horrid to those you had to do. So don't you think, you're the only one around here who knows how to make tough decisions when it comes down to it.” 

“I never meant to challenge your capacity, Indra”, Clarke simply gave back. 

She thought it was the best to acknowledge this and probably admit that her opinion wasn’t actually that wrong. What if Pike didn’t just have a big mouth but also a lose hand when it came to handling his weapons? 

Also she didn’t really want to get into everything Indra just had said. She didn’t want to be reminded of that day once again. It’s been almost two months now, but with everything that happened since, it felt more like two years. And when she pretended, when she forced herself to be someone else now, then she could actually bear it on some days. Bear the burden of having killed someone, of having made this sacrifice for the greater good, for the survival of their group. 

“All I wanted to propose is…that we shouldn’t just move out of the way for some clearly crazy person”, she went on then. 

“I know this is hard for you to accept, but look around you! What do we have? It’s not like we built a real settlement here…we could move on. We should”, Indra returned. 

“You said they torture people? Did they do this to you?” Clarke wanted to know then, her look and voice a little softer now. 

“No…it was more of a psychological torture, but…I heard it. The screams of tormented people…I’ve heard it before, in Afghanistan. It’s not a sound I’ll ever forget…”

“Do you think Pike can be negotiated with?” she made a last attempt. 

“No. Men like him aren’t reasonable.” Indra confirmed what she already had assumed by now. 

“Alright”, Clarke said, finally making her decision. 

“Our people listen to you and I trust you to make the right call here”, Indra meant then, giving her an affirming look. “You didn’t lose him, in order to safe us just to let some guy like that destroy it all again in the end, right?” 

 

Alicia’s PoV

Everyone was busy packing up their belongings that had spread out around camp. They’d leave here soon, because finally they had decided to do so. Alicia hadn’t want to get involved in the prior argument. Obviously she didn’t feel it was right at all what these bad people who hurt Marcus and Indra did. They couldn’t just go around and tell people to move out of their way. But to be honest, she’d rather live out on the road again, moving from town to town if it need be, instead of staying and risking to get her head blown off by some rough guys. On the other hand, they could encounter this type of men everywhere, so she didn’t really know if it was that much safer than staying right here. 

Alicia didn’t really have that much lying around outside of their camper, considering they’d only been here for three days. Nevertheless she realized, that her notebook with her sketches and drawings was missing. It was one of the little things she’d taken along from home. Some of the drawings and doodles in it actually were Matt’s. That’s the main reason she’d clung to it until now, even if she didn’t really spared too many thoughts about her boyfriend anymore. He was long gone and she had to live on. It still was nice, though, to have some of his drawings as a memory. Not only to remember him, but also easier times. Life before the infection spread. And now the notebook was gone, she couldn’t really remember where she’d last seen it. But she was pretty sure that it wasn’t inside the camper, because she’d already turned things upside down, much to the displeasure of her mom.

“What are you even looking for?” she finally all but snapped at Alicia. “We don’t have time for that now, we’re leaving soon!”

“But it’s my sketchbook!” Alicia argued. “Did you see it? I just can’t remember where I left it…” 

“Didn’t you have it with you down at the creek yesterday?” Chris who’d been eavesdropping wanted to know. 

“Right!” Alicia called out and almost wanted to hit herself for being so forgetful. “You’re right, it’s still down there!”

And with that, she gripped her baseball bat and jumped out of the camper, heading for the place where they’d done their laundry the other day.

“Leisha, wait!” she heard her mom calling after her. “It’s not safe to go on your own, someone should accompany you!” she shouted and Alicia only sighed. It wasn’t even a quarter mile away, she could totally handle herself. So she spun around to make it clear to her mom that she would be alright. 

“Mom, it’s just down by the stream, it’s not a big deal!” Alicia started to argue and to her surprise it wasn’t her mom who answered her first.

“I’ve gotta go down there to…get something, too. So, let’s just go together, okay?” a by now somewhat familiar voice to her left said. 

Clarke was standing there by the side of her mother’s trailer that they now occupied together with the injured girl, Raven. She was just looking at Alicia expectantly. Now she realized that the blonde girl wasn’t only wearing a holster for her gun, but also one for her knives. Apparently she really liked to make an intimidating appearance. But her eyes were soft, not even teasing unlike when they met first at the camp. 

“Okay”, Alicia just nodded her agreement and also her mom seemed to be relieved that she found someone who could accompany her. 

“I see you still got your bat” Clarke said, not without a little smirk as they made their way through the woods. 

“It’s certainly not the worst of weapons, so I figured I’d just keep it”, Alicia shrugged. 

She couldn’t tell why exactly, but somehow she felt at unease in Clarke’s presence. It wasn’t, though, because she was still afraid of her. Actually she was pretty sure that Clarke would save her again, if they’d come across a bunch of walkers now. The feeling she had could probably best be described as nervousness, although she really couldn’t explain it. This girl just made her wonder; she wasn’t like the others in the group. Something about her told Alicia that there was a lot about her, that she didn’t know yet and that she probably didn’t even want to know. Clarke was inscrutable. 

“I’m sorry, by the way…You know, for attempting to slice your throat the other day”, Clarke said after another few steps that they’d just spent in silence. And Alicia could see out of the corner of her eyes, how the other girl turned her head into her direction to muster the scratch on her neck. 

“Nothing happened”, she just gave back, and then added: “Why did you do it?”

“Point my knife at your neck?” Clarke returned to clarify, one eyebrow raised and a half-grin on her lips.

“No. Well, yeah. I mean, why did you show up? Why didn’t you just let me end the walker and leave?” she wanted to know. 

“I thought you’d be grateful to me for saving your life. You know, a pretty girl in danger, I couldn’t just stand by and watch”, Clarke meant and her teasing tone was back once more. Alicia just rolled her eyes. At least she didn’t call her princess that time…

“Yeah, that’s why after throwing a knife at that monster you turned the next one at me”, she gave back with a snort. 

“Honestly…” Clarke started then. “I wanted to scare you away. Make sure there weren’t any more of your people. We’d always come to that mall for our supplies…” she explained. 

“As if a whole mall wasn’t big enough for some more people to pick up their stuff”, Alicia said, not without sarcasm. 

“Yeah, but it’s not like there are still new deliveries coming in with fresh food, right?” Clarke claimed and Alicia couldn’t help herself but to snort once more, shaking her head at this girl. But then she spotted her sketchbook that was lying there all lonely on a tumbled down tree trunk. 

“Oh, there it is!” she called out and all but run the last few steps to retrieve it. 

“That’s why you had to come back here?” Clarke wanted to know, not without some amusement in her voice. “That’s your diary?”

“No”, Alicia answered more brusquely than intended. “It’s my sketchbook…”

“You’re drawing? May I take a look?”

“Didn’t you come here to get something yourself?” Alicia reminded her, sounding a little huffy. She didn’t really want to show Clarke her drawings, and Matt’s, when she probably just would poke fun at them. 

“True…” the blonde said, but still kept looking at her. “Listen, I…I didn’t mean to…insult you or something.”

“Right…”, Alicia only meant, not returning her gaze. 

“Can you…wait here for a moment? I’ll just…” Clarke trailed off, making an undefined gesture with her hand, looking everywhere but directly at Alicia anymore. 

“What are you doing?” Alicia wanted to know, raising an eyebrow in question, because Clarke honestly was behaving weird right now. 

“I’m…I’ve got…stuff here”, she gave back vaguely. 

“What stuff?” Alicia kept on asking, because obviously that kind of reply wasn't satisfying in the slightest.

“Things”, is all she got for an answer and Alicia decided that Clarke definitely was something more but just incomprehensible. Mysterious maybe was a better fitting description. 

“What things?!” she wanted to know and sounded a little more aggressive now. What show was Clarke pulling off here? 

“Just…wait here for a sec, okay?” Clarke meant and with that she turned around and rushed off somewhere between the trees. 

Alicia debated if she should follow after her, but did she really want to know? She didn’t have the slightest clue what to make of all that. Just as she came to the conclusion that she probably should go after Clarke, in case she got into any trouble, the wind carried loud angry voices down there from their camp. She didn’t know what to do. Look for Clarke or go back? The decision was made a little easier for her then, as she heard a gun fired from the direction where their camp was. 

“What’s going on?” Clarke, who’d miraculously appeared at her side again, almost screamed at her.

“How should I know?” Alicia returned, eyeing the bundle Clarke was carrying under her left arm. “What’s that?”

“Not now…we gotta go back and check out what’s wrong at camp!” Clarke decided and all but sprinted off, while Alicia tried to keep pace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I stole that "Stuff and things" part from Rick in TWD, it was just too hilarious not to use xD


End file.
